Chicago Against New York
by Fantasy3
Summary: COMPLETED!: When the New York newsies go to visit the Chicago newsyboys, they find out that they aren't wanted, enough to start a 'war'. And so it does. This is a story of how everyone has their own problems, and that they can't blame it on anyone.
1. Prolouge

Disclaimer: I don't own Newsies. Simple as that! ( Please don't sue me. I only wrote this to entertain myself and others; I'm not making any money from this.  
  
Author's Note: I've tried to make this as true as possible, but I had to make up a lot of stuff, so it's not historical.  
  
1900, the turn of the century. The New York newsies were still getting rewards for winning the strike in the summer of 1899. They were finally able to sell back their papers, not having to 'eat' them. They were being thanked; things weren't as bad for the children leaving on the streets. And some personal victories; the Delaney's getting thrown in jail, even if it was only for a short time; more people were buying their papers, even if there weren't any good headlines; girl's even started to sell more, and were able to, without dressing like boys! Needless to say, everything was good in New York. But unfortunately, things weren't going as good in other cities, especially Chicago.  
There, the mayor changed everything. He had good intentions. When he heard about the strike and why they did it, all he wanted to do was help. But he didn't, he made everything worse. He forced the owners of apartment buildings to lower the prices so people could afford it. After awhile, the buildings started to fall apart; they needed to be painted, the pipes leaked, the rooms were too cold or too hot, it was too crowded. The owners and the tenants blamed the Chicago newsboys, even though they didn't do anything.  
The mayor also made trips to poor areas of the city to give them food. That just took away all the pride any of them still clung to. He offered them jobs, made the people take them, and no one liked them. They worked long days and didn't get paid enough. But what was worse was, these jobs had belonged to children. Children who needed to help their families by making money, or who didn't have any family, but were looking out for themselves. They were thrown to the streets, fired. They were forced to go to orphanages, where they were abused or forgotten, and they were crowded into rooms of 8 to 12, where there were only supposed to be 4.  
And the Chicago newsies were all blamed for these problems. "Sure, they didn't do anything, but they're all newsboys, it's their fault" was what people thought. It's in the human nature to blame someone else for their own problems, and the newsboys were stuck with it. And, in turn, the Chicago newsboys blamed the New York newsies. "They started the strike, it was their fault" or "Only thinking of themselves is what they were doing!" were popular ideas in the minds of the newsboys.  
And this is when my story starts, on February 9, 1900, when the Chicago mayor gets an idea. This idea is for the New York newsies, the ones from the strike, come and help the Chicago newsboys, because 'they seem to have no enthusiasm', as he said to the mayor of New York. He signed the Declaration of War, without even knowing it, when he simply said, "I'll send some next week. They could get something out of this, too." 


	2. A Semi Regular Morning

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. They belong to the movie Newsies or to the people who made them up.  
  
Kloppman climbed the stairs, as he had done every morning at this time since he came to own the Newsboys Lodging House. He walked into the bunkroom, looked around, and shook his head.  
"GET UP!!! TIME TO SELL THE PAPES!!! UP!! BOOTS, GET UP!!" Kloppman called out. "SKITTERY!!! GET UP! WHEN IT'S TIME TO GET UP, YA GOTTA GET UP!! COME ON!!! SELL THE PAPERS!! UP, UP!!"  
Racetrack rolled over. He didn't want to get up. Last night he had stayed up late, playing poker with Pie Eater, Snoddy, and Specs.  
"Racetrack!" Kloppman screamed right in his ear. "Get up! The papes aren't gonna sell themselves!"  
"Yeah, yeah." Racetrack said, rolling out of bed. "I'm up."  
Race walked towards the bathroom to splash water on his water.  
"Heya, Race." Mush said.  
"Is dere a reason you're always so happy in da mornin', Mush?" Race asked.  
Mush laughed.  
"Hey, Race!" Jack said, starting to shave.  
"Heya Jacky-boy." Race said.  
"WHO HAS MY HAT?!?!" Kid Blink shouted.  
Race hit him. "Do ya have ta scream right in me ear?"  
  
"Sorry, Race. Didn't see ya." Kid Blink exclaimed.  
"Shuddup, Kid!" Race said.  
Kloppman popped his head into the washroom and shouted, "FIVE MINUTES, BOYS!"  
All the newsies, for they were all in the bathroom at that time, heard him, and started dressing faster.  
Once they were ready, they ran out the door, heading for the Distribution Office on Newspaper Row.  
"Race! Wait up!" Mush called from behind him. Race stopped to wait for him. They were best friends, after all.  
"Hurry up, Mush!! We'll be behind everyone!" Race cried.  
"Not da goils. They're ALWAYS late." Mush said.  
"Ya nevah know. Taday we might just be behind them." Race said, giving Mush a hard time.  
"Well, we bettah not just stand heah." Mush pulled Race's arm and they caught up with the rest of the newsboys.  
"Dere ya are!" Kid Blink said, appearing next to them.  
"Hey, Kid." Mush said. "How come we'se ain't movin'? Da gate has ta be open by now."  
"It is. But da goils got heah at da same time as us." Kid explained.  
"Don't tell us, Jack decided ta let 'em go foist?" Race said.  
"Well, not yet he didn't. He's talkin' ta them." Kid said.  
Race pushed his way up to the front next to Jack. "Jack, don't let 'em go before us."  
"Why not, Race?" Cocky asked. Cocky had long dark brown hair underneath a light brown cabby hat. She stared him right in the eyes, making it easy to see they were brown. Race could also see her freckles. Her black suspenders hung down over light brown pants, instead of on the shoulders of her white button down shirt.  
"Because ya don't desoive it." Race shrugged.  
Fantasy laughed. She had blond hair that came down from a gray cabby hat. She, too, had freckles, and was taller than Cocky was, but looked younger. Her light blue shirt made her eyes look greener. Her black suspenders hung at her sides, too, over her dark brown pants. "Please tell me why, Race."  
Racetrack smirked at her. "Fantasy, ya know as well as I do dat they're always late."  
"Are not!" Rave exclaimed. She was wearing along the same lines of clothing as the other two, but she would definitely stand out in a crowd. Her brown hair had tints of red in it, under a black cabby hat that was backwards. She had on a gray tank top under a white button down shirt, which wasn't exactly buttoned. Only a few were. She rolled up the sleeves on the shirt, and she had a black vest on over that. She was wearing some sort of necklace, but Race couldn't tell what, only that it had something silver hanging down from it. On her wrist was a burgundy bracelet. Her pants, which were a slate color, had one leg of it rolled up to her knee. He could see she was wearing black socks and black lace-up shoes.  
"Yeah, Race. We ain't always late. We ain't taday." Rain pointed out. Her bright blue eyes seemed to laugh at him. "Don't know if ya noticed." She pushed some of her wavy blond hair behind her ear, away from her face, making it easier to see the scar she had on her bottom lip. Her light, tan skin could be seen where the brown cut-off pants weren't at. Her light blue over-shirt was blowing in the wind.  
"Oh, thanks, Rain." Race said, smiling.  
"Heya goils!" Snitch said, walking up to see why they weren't going in.  
Rain smiled. "Heya, Snitch."  
"Come on!!!" Specs called from the back of the group of boys. "We'se need ta sell!"  
Jack rolled his eyes and walked in to get his papes for the morning. The girls and boys all followed him. 


	3. A Not So Regular Evening

Disclaimer: I don't own Newsies or any of these characters, except for Fantasy. I don't claim to. So don't sue. (  
  
There were thirteen girls in the Girl's Lodging House at the time, and they didn't always get along. They tried, but they couldn't help but get in fights now and then. They were all about the same ages, the oldest being 19 and the youngest 14.  
They were usually late, too, so it was strange for the boys to see them in the morning. Usually, they see them at lunch or getting the evening edition of the World.  
But today was a strange day. the actual DAY wasn't, but the morning, and the night. The girls went back to the Boy's Lodging House for awhile that night. They walked in, expecting to see Kloppman standing behind the counter. But he wasn't.  
"HEY, KLOPPY!!" Jack called out.  
"In here, boys, there's someone here to see you." Kloppman answered from the bunkroom.  
Jack glanced behind him and shrugged, leading the way up to the bunkroom. He opened the door and walked in to see the Mayor, standing in the middle of the room. Everyone stopped talking at the sight of him.  
"Boys, the Mayor has something he would like to ask you." Kloppman said.  
"Well, boys. The mayor of Chicago has recently contacted me." The mayor started. "He says that his newsboys aren't very enthusiastic about their job ever since you won the strike. He wants some of you to go and visit them, and see if you could help them."  
  
All the newsies stared at him, and finally Jack spoke up. "When'd we go? And for how long?"  
"You'd leave tomorrow evening, at 6:30. I have already rented a space for you. I thought that 26 of you could go, 13 girls, 13 boys. That way it'd be even." He pauses for a second, waiting for an answer. "What do you say, boys? And girls?" He added as an afterthought.  
Jack, who was still standing in front of the rest, glanced back at them. They were all nodding their heads, telling him to say yes. "Well, I think that we'd love ta!"  
The mayor beamed at them. "Alright. Then I want you to figure out who will be going and then I want them to pack. Be at Central Station at 5:30, sharp tomorrow evening. Feel free to all come and say good-bye."  
"I'll be sure that they'll be ready, mayor. Thank you so much for giving them such a great opportunity." Kloppman said, walking with him down the stairs. When they were sure that the mayor and Kloppman couldn't hear them, Racetrack said, "So, who's goin'?"  
Everyone started shouting, "I will!"  
"Shuddup! Just shuddup for a second!" Jack screamed. Kloppman came back up the stairs to help them decide. Swifty ran off to ask Spot if he would go, because he did the run the strike, so he had a place on the list for sure. Jack and David were also a definite, so David went home to ask if he could. After awhile, they finally decided on who else would go and who wouldn't.  
"Alright, so this is who's goin'." Jack said, and started to read off a sheet. "Me, Racetrack, Skittery, Mush, Spot, Tumbler, Swifty, Itey, Boots, Jake, Snoddy, David, and Specs. Then the goils are: Cocky, Rain, Dainti, Rave, Atlantic, Lavender, Snooza, Sneaks, Nugget, Sparrow, Illusion, Fantasy, and Eraser. Is dat right?"  
Kloppman nodded. "You'll pack in the morning; you need to get a good night's sleep. This is the plan. Everyone who isn't going will sell the morning addition, and then those who are will pack. Girls, go on back to your own Lodging House, we'll come by at 4:30 to bring you to the train station. David, come here to the Lodging House once you finish packing, so we won't have to go get you. And we'll need someone to get Spot, too. Someone who isn't going."  
"I'll get him." Bumlets volunteered.  
"And I'll go with him." Dutchy said.  
"Ok. But now, you need to sleep."  
The girls and David left, waving good-bye to Kloppman.  
"I can't believe it; I've always wanted to travel somewhere!" Fantasy exclaimed as they got ready for bed back in their own Lodging House.  
"Chicago's a great place, too. You should see all da watah!" Rave said. She had lived there until she was 13, but ran away because her father would abuse her, and her brother wasn't any better.  
"Dere's lots of watah here, too, ya know." Cocky said.  
The people who heard her laughed.  
"Let's jus' go ta sleep." Eraser said. She was already under her blankets in her bed. She was the youngest girl newsie at 13.  
Fantasy hopped onto her top bunk, above Atlantic. "'Night, everyone!" 


	4. The Beginning of the Journey

Disclaimer: I don't on Newsies. Or any of the characters so far, except Fantasy. They all belong to their rightful owners.  
  
Thank you to Eraser, Angelfish, CiCi, and Sphinx for the FB. And Sphinx, I'll say your name when they get introduced to all the Chicago newsies, but I've already made up the characters, so you can't be a main one.  
  
The next morning, Kloppman walked up the stairs to wake the newsboys. But there was a surprise for him. All of them were already up, and getting dressed.  
The rest of the day went by fast, with some of them selling, Dutchy and Bumlets going off to get Spot, and the rest all packing. It seemed that only a few minutes had gone by when he saw that it was time to leave for the train station. They went and got the girls and started on their way to Grand Central Station.  
"Wow." Atlantic said as they walked in. "I have nevah seen da inside, it's bettah den I thought!"  
Kloppman laughed and led them over to the mayor. "Hello."  
  
The mayor nodded to them. "I see you're on time." He looked around at them all. "You're not. all going, are you?"  
  
"No. The rest came to see them off." Kloppman said.  
"See dem off?" Racetrack whispered to Kid Blink. "Did ya come ta see me off, Kid?"  
"I came ta make SURE you went off. I don't know what I'd do if ya came back. Jack's leavin' me in charge, I don't think I'd be able ta handle you."  
  
Racetrack smirked. "Tanks, Kid."  
"Well, these are the cars I rented for you, and here are your tickets. Have a good trip, we'll see you soon!" the Mayor said as he handed the tickets out to those who were going.  
Jack took Kid Blink aside. "Now, I'se trustin' ya, Kid. Watch out for dem. And for Kloppy. Alright?"  
" Jack, I know what ta do, I've done it befoah." Kid said exasperatedly.  
"Yeah, but it wasn't foah dis long." Jack said.  
"Dere's seven people not goin', includin' me. Don't worry."  
  
"Look aftah Les, too, when you're sellin'." Jack said. "David ain't gonna be heah, either."  
  
"I know, Jack. Don't worry. Just get on da train!"  
Jack followed everyone onto the train, giving Kloppman a hug as he went past. He was, after all, a grandfather to him. He was the last to get on the train, and stood in the door, waving to everyone. "See ya!"  
The train's whistle blew and it started moving. Everyone on it was excited. They were traveling, they were going to Chicago. But they had no idea what would be in store for them when they got there.  
  
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That was short, but I didn't have a lot of time, and I want to write a few more chapters before I leave for two weeks. 


	5. Mr Brooks, Esquire

Disclaimer: I don't own Newsies, I wish I did. but I don't. And I know it, hehehe. So don't sue me! *ducks and covers*  
  
Author's Note: I looked some things up about Chicago in 1900. There was a sky-scraper, the first in the world. It was built in 1885, and had nine floors and a basement. But in 1891, two more were added, which means eleven. lol. So that part is true. I looked up some other things, too. I want to make it seem kinda real. I tried to find a train station that was in use in 1900, but couldn't. If anyone knows (I very highly doubt you will, though) PLEASE TELL ME!!! It's short, but that's alright. I want to save the whole meeting of the Chicago newsies till the next chapter.  
  
The train ride- now that was an experience. Those few days were probably the most fun they had.  
On the third day, they finally made it to Chicago. They could see the first sky-scraper that was ever built- all eleven floors that were above ground. The newsies grabbed their bags once the train stopped and headed out into the train station. Jack, being the leader, led them off the train. But, once they were off, he had no idea what to do.  
"Hello. Are you the newsboys from New York?" a wheezy voice asked from behind Fantasy.  
She turned around and stared at the man. He was short, and looked like a mouse. "Newsboys and goils."  
  
The man nodded. "Are you. in charge, then?"  
Fantasy shook her head and pointed to Jack. "He's da leadah."  
"Ah. I knew it would be a boy." The man started to walk off, but was stopped by Sneaks. Her green eyes looked angry, but she was smiling all the same.  
"Excuse me, suh. But did ya jist tell me friend dat you knew da leader would be a boy?" she asked.  
The man nodded. Sneaks glared at him. "So you're sayin dat me friend couldn't be da leader, 'cause she's a goil?"  
The man nodded and started walking towards Jack.  
Sneaks stepped in front of him. "Well, she could be da leader! ANY goil could be!" Sneaks shouted.  
  
"Sneaks, leave da man alone!" Spot said, stepping up. He looked the guy up and down, from his shiny black shoes to his just as shiny black hair. "Who are ya?"  
  
"I'm the mayor's assistant." he said, acting all important. "And who are you?"  
Spot smirked. "I'se da leadah of da Brooklyn newsies."  
"The leader, is it? I thought he was the leader." The man pointed to Jack.  
"Nevah mind about dat. So, did ya come ta help us find our way around?" Jack asked.  
He made a face that showed he thought he was much too important to be showing street kids around. "I have carriages for you outside, I'll show you to them, but then I have important work to do." He seemed like he was waiting for someone to ask what this work was, but no one did. After a few minutes, he nodded. "They're this way. Follow me. If you get lost, it's not my problem."  
Race made a face at him when he turned his back. "Excuse me. But I don't think I had da pleasusah of loinin' your name."  
The man turned back around. "It's Mr. Brooks, Esquire."  
"Esquirah? What does dat mean?" Race asked, trying not to laugh.  
Mr. Brooks narrowed his eyes at him. "I shall not take any of this foolery. Follow me if you would like to find the carriages." He turned back around.  
"Aftah you." Race said. Mr. Brooks started walking towards the doors. Kid laughed.  
"Let's go. Don't want ta lose our only escort." Spot said. With that, everyone followed.  
There were six carriages waiting outside when they walked into the sunshine.  
"Are dose them?" Atlantic asked.  
Everyone stared at them. They looked old and they were small. The paint was black, but you could barely tell for all the dirt and dust on them, and it was falling off. The wheels looked like they were about to break, and the horses didn't look any better.  
"You can fit four in each, except for two, they'll have to have five in them." Mr. Brooks said. "Bring your. "He pauses and coughed. "Luggage in with you. You'll be staying at an Inn, the mayor has already paid for your stay. There are six rooms waiting for you. The mayor has picked your room mates, and where you'll stay. There'll be four to a room, except for one girl's room and one boy's room. They'll have five. Here's the list of who gets which room. Oh, and if anyone would like to, someone will be waiting outside for you at 4:30 to bring you to meet the Chicago newsboys before tomorrow, when you'll go out and sell with them. Have a good stay."  
  
The carriages turned out to be fine- they got to the Inn alright, though it was a tight squeeze inside the tiny things. The Inn was rather large, but it looked run down. It definitely needed a paint job. But the newsies walked inside and got the keys to their rooms. Racetrack, Skittery, Mush, and Specs, and for the girls Fantasy, Sneaks, Rave, and Rain were on the first floor, while Spot, Jack, Boots, and David, and then Eraser, Sparrow, Atlantic, and Cocky were on the second floor. Then Tumbler, Snoddy, Itey, Jake, and Swifty, and Nugget, Dainti, Lavender, Snooza, and Illusion were on the third floor.  
Fantasy was the first into her room. Sneaks was right after her, and then Rain and Rave.  
"What do ya think?" Fantasy asked. She looked around again. There were two beds, queen size. The comforter and sheets had little pink roses on them, and so did the walls. There were two doors on the right wall, and a window facing the street. There was a dresser against the wall, and a mirror hanging over it. Sneaks wasted no time and went to check what was behind the doors.  
She opened the first door. "A closet. Wow, nevah had a closet before. And heah's a bathroom!"  
Rain sat on one of the beds, then the other. "I CALL THIS BED!!" She jumped back on the first one. "It's bettah."  
"I get it, too!" Rave shouted.  
"Looks like we get dis one." Fantasy said.  
"We have da one by the window!" Sneaks said.  
"Who cares? Dis one's bettah!" Rave said.  
"Yeah, but ours has two pillows!!" Fantasy said. "So ha!!"  
Rain looked down at the bed. "Hey!! Dat's no fair!"  
"I CALL THE PILLOW!!" Rave shouted.  
They all laughed at Rain as she got up to see if they had an extra pillow anywhere in the room. After a few minutes, someone knocked on the door.  
"Hey, goils! Any of youse want ta go meet the Chicago newsies?" Race asked through the door.  
Fantasy stood up. "Yeah, I'm comin'."  
"Wait for me!" Sneaks said. She stood up. "Don't even think about stealing me pillow."  
  
The two of them walked out and followed Racetrack outside. Skittery and Specs were sitting out there, waiting for them.  
"So, Race, what time is it? Is it 4:30 yet?" Fantasy asked.  
Race shrugged. "Ain't ya gonna say please?"  
"I wasn't plannin' on it." Fantasy said.  
"Sorry, can't tell ya the time."  
"Hey, Specs, you have a watch, right?" Fantasy said.  
"Yeah, why?" Specs asked.  
"Could ya tell me what time it is?" Specs just looked at her. "Fine. Please?"  
  
"Hey, ya didn't say please ta ME." Race said.  
"It's about 4:45." Specs said.  
"Isn't someone supposed ta be here by now?" Skittery asked.  
"Can't trust Specs' watch. Heah, I'll look at mine." Race took his out and looked at it. "It's 4:43. See, ya can't trust Specs. wait, someone should be heah by now!"  
"So, I'm guessing no one else is coming?" someone said. A girl with long black hair and brown eyes was walking towards them from the door of a bakery, where she has been watching them. She looked like she was about 5'6, and she was wearing a dark purple, almost black, button-up shirt with the top two buttons undone. Her purple, green, and black vest looked worn and a little small, as did her brown pants and boots.  
"Who are you?" Race asked.  
"Well, I know who YOU are. You're all New York newsies." The girl said. Race smiled, but she spit at his feet. "Well, you're not as good as you think."  
  
"What do ya mean by dat?" Race asked, glaring at her.  
"Never mind. I'm not supposed to say anything. you'll see, soon enough. My name's Song, by the way. I'm a Chicago newsgirl. I'm going to bring you to meet the rest of us. "Your names?"  
  
"I'se Specs."  
"Skittery."  
  
"Sneaks. and dis is Racetrack, but we call 'im Race."  
  
"You can't. It's Racetrack to you." Race said.  
"I'm Fantasy. And no, no one else is comin' taday."  
  
Song nodded. "Come on. Let's go meet them." 


	6. The Chicago Newsies

Disclaimer: I don't own Newsies. They are the property of Disney. And so are the girl New York newsies. They belong to their owners, except for Fantasy. She belongs to me. As do all the Chicago newsies. :) So please don't steal 'um.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Fantasy, Sneaks, Racetrack, Skittery, and Specs followed Song, past buildings and people. She brought them to some water.  
"That's Lake Michigan." Song said. "In case you didn't know. And in here is where we sleep." She pointed to a run-down building with three floors. "It used to be a warehouse, but they got a new building, and we got this. We sleep up on the third floor, and the second floor is where Snoot lives. The kitchen's there, too, and we have a kinda sitting room. We're usually in there at night. but during the day, we're on the first floor. That's where I'm taking you. And that's the only part of the building you're allowed in. I told you where everything was, so there's not reason to go snooping."  
  
"Umm. who's Snoot?" Sneaks asked.  
Song glared at her, but she seemed to glare at all of them. "He owns the building, and he takes care of us. Now come on, they're waiting."  
  
Racetrack went first, and everyone followed. They walked in through a small door and into a cobwebby hallway. Song led them past closed doors and grimy windows until they reached the end of the hall, and a door.  
"You wait here; I'll go tell them you're here. I'll be right back." Song said, and she opened the door and slipped through it, closing it before anyone could see anything.  
"Well, dis is weird." Skittery said.  
"Wondah why they're heah." Fantasy said, looking around. "It's not da nicest."  
  
Specs shrugged. "No clue. How long do ya think it'll take? I wanna be back for dinnah."  
  
"Do ya only think about foodt?" Racetrack asked.  
"No." Specs said.  
"Oh, right. Ya think about Lavendah, too." Racetrack said.  
Specs blushed. "No I don't!"  
  
"Wait, did I miss somethin' heah?" Sneaks asked.  
"Yeah, Specs heah likes Lavendah." Racetrack said, laughing.  
"Race. I don't. I can't BELEIVE you." Specs said.  
"You like Lavendah?!?!" Fantasy asked, laughing.  
Specs hit her, still blushing. "So what if I do?"  
  
"Little Specs likes Lavendah!! I can't believe dat!" Skittery said. "But ya know what I really can't believe? Dat ya told RACE."  
  
"Don't know why I did." Specs said, glaring at Racetrack. "Look, goils, don't tell her."  
Sneaks smiled. "Don't worry, we won't."  
  
Specs turned on Skittery. "And you- you bettah not tell ANYONE."  
Suddenly, the door banged open.  
"Are you ready?" Song asked.  
"Yeah." Skittery said, and they all walked out of the hallway and into a large room full of boxes. As they walked farther in, they could see stairs going up to the second floor, and they could see a group of people standing near the bottom of the stairs, waiting for them. Song brought them to stand right in front of the Chicago newsboys and newsgirls. They were all standing, except for one boy, who was sitting down on a box in the middle of the rest.  
"This is Racetrack, Skittery, Specs, Sneaks, and Fantasy. "Song pointed to them all and then went to stand next to a girl.  
The boy in the middle stood up and looked at them silently. After a few minutes, he looked back at the Chicago newsies and smiled. "I'm Cricket." He turned to look at the five newsies. "And I'm the leader."  
Race stepped forward, seeing as how Jack wasn't there. "Ise Racetrack."  
"Specs."  
"Skittery."  
"Sneaks."  
"Fantasy."  
Cricket nodded. He was a little short to be a leader; maybe about 5'4, but he had muscles. He had light blond hair and brown eyes. You could also see a scar down the right side of his cheek. But what really stood out above all else was the brown bow tie around his neck. It didn't seem to match with his gray button-up shirt and the navy blue vest that went over it, or the black pants. He didn't seem to notice that we were all staring at his bow-tie; he took a watch out of his vest pocket and looked at the time, then put it back.  
One of the boys stepped up to them. He had black hair and hazel eyes that looked angry. He was tall, and had pale skin, making him look like he has never been out in the sun. He was wearing a lot of layers of clothing, too: a blue button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top four buttons unbuttoned, showing his forest green, long-sleeved undershirt with all the buttons unbuttoned. He was wearing a gray vest that looked like it had elephants on it, and he had black pants on, and a dark gray cabby hat cocked to the side on his head. He glanced over at Cricket, who had sat back down, and then put a forced smile on his face. "I'm Cow O'Leary. And I'm second in charge." He pointed to the boy standing on one side of Cricket. He was tall and had a lot of muscles. He had short brown hair and hazel eyes, and he smiled. He rolled up the sleeves of his red shirt and pushed his black cabby hat further up his head. "And that's Rubber. He's not too smart, but if you even THINK of making fun of him, I SWEAR I will KILL you."  
"Cow!" Cricket warned.  
Cow stopped yelling, but he glared at the five newsies, fists clenched.  
"What's wrong wit you? Why'd ya think we'd make fun of him!" Specs asked.  
"Because."  
But Cricket cut him off again. "Cow, come on. Someone else, introduce yourself."  
This time a girl stepped forward as Cow moved back to his place beside Cricket.  
The girl had curly red hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a light pink button-up shirt with the top three buttons unbuttoned. Her black cabby hat and black pants matched, and she was wearing a ring on her right hand.  
"I'm Claddagh." She said with an Irish accent. "And I don't know how ye had the courage to come here." She glanced back at Cricket. "But I'm not to say anything more." She walked back to where she had been standing before.  
One by one, the other newsboys and girls came up and introduced themselves. They all seemed to hate the five newsies, and none of them knew why. There was one more person with an Irish accent, Brogue. And the only two people who seemed to feel in the least bit sorry for them were two girls; Prayer and Hope. When they were all finished, Cricket stood back up.  
"Thanks for coming, you know the way out."  
Fantasy and Sneaks looked at each other in surprise. Why had they all seemed to hate them?  
"Why do I get da feelin' ya all hate us?" Race asked.  
"Because, you ruined everything for us!" Cow shouted, moving towards them. But Cricket held him back.  
"Not now." Cricket said calmly.  
"We have to tell them why sometime!" Song shouted.  
Cricket glared at her, and surprisingly, she shut up. "Now go, for your own good."  
  
Race shook his head at them, and we all walked out of the building, very confused.  
"I don't get it! Why do dey hate us?!" Skittery asked.  
"I dunno." Fantasy said, looking back at the old warehouse. "I mean, we helped 'em, didn't we?"  
"Come'on, let's just go back ta da hotel." Race said.  
"Wait a second, how are we supposed ta get back?" Specs asked.  
They all realized what he meant- they had no idea how to get home.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
And that's the end of another chapter. I hope you all liked it. It took me a LONGGGGG time. :)  
  
But you finally get to know some of my characters. And the story will get A LOT better (hopefully), now that we know the Chicago newsies. I think the next chapter will be from their point of view- you know, the Chicago newsies? What do you think about that?  
  
Hehehe, I love cliff-hangers!!!!! 


	7. The Other Side

Disclaimer: I don't own Newsies. It's the property of Disney.  
  
This chapter is from the point of view of the Chicago newsies!!  
  
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The Chicago newsies watched the five New York newsies leave. Finally, they were out of sight.  
Cow was breathing deeply. "I hate them!"  
"We all do, Cow." Prayer said.  
"They ruined everything for us!" Song complained.  
"We came here to have better lives. So far, we haven't even saved up enough for half of a ticket, and we've been here a year and a half!" Brogue said, trying as hard as he could not to get angrier.  
"You'll get enough some day!" Hope said, trying to comfort him. They were the same age, both 15.  
"Aye. But not anytime soon, that I can tell ye!" Claddagh said.  
Cow sat down on a box. "They don't understand! They don't know what they did! Did you see them, when they came in?! Acting important, and expecting us to love them! Have they seen what Chicago looks like?! It's a dump, because of them! And they ruined our lives! All the bulls hate us! It's just not fair!" He stood up again and kicked the box.  
"Cow!" Cricket said.  
"I'm going. I'll be back later." Cow said, and he walked out the door. Cricket shook his head.  
"Why did he leave?" Rubber asked, looking at Cricket.  
"He's mad, that's all." Cricket said.  
"Should I tell him a joke?" Rubber asked.  
Cricket gave him a half smile. "No, not now, Rubber."  
Prayer walked up to Cricket. "What are we going to do, Cricket?"  
  
Cricket looked down at her. She was the youngest, at 13. "We'll talk, tomorrow. We'll tell them what happened." He looked up at all the rest. "And there will be no violence."  
  
Some of them looked like they wanted to complain, but none of them did.  
He nodded. "I'm going to go find Cow. Action, you take charge." He left the room, following the path Cow had taken.  
Action turned to the newsies. "Brogue, what time is it?"  
  
Brogue took out his pocket watch. "Four o'clock."  
  
"Alright- there's no point in going to sell this afternoon. Snoot will understand, so if you don't have enough tonight, work hard tomorrow and the next day, and pay him back later. Do whatever you want."  
Brogue and Sky, another boy newsie that was also 15, walked outside.  
"I hate this! How come Cricket was so nice to them! After all they did to us! And telling us 'No violence!'" the brown-haired Sky said.  
"They thought they were so important, walking in, talking with accents." Brogue exclaimed.  
"Maybe they don't know what's happened to us." Hope suggested, following them.  
"How could they not! Look at this place!" Sky gestured at their surroundings.  
"I thought it was your fault until I became a newsgirl." Hope said.  
Brogue sighed and dropped onto the ground. "I know."  
  
"But it still doesn't make any sense!" Sky cried.  
"They thought what they were doing was good. And for all we know, it probably was good. It got little kids out of factories, didn't it?"  
"And made their families go hungry. For some people, that was the only money they got." Brogue said. "So that doesn't help us. They're blamin' it all on us, ye know. I'm surprised we make as much money as we do every day."  
  
"Ten cents isn't a lot of money, Brogue." Sky sat on the ground next to him, leaning against the wall of the warehouse.  
"It's enough for a place to sleep." Hope said. She, too, sat on the ground.  
"But barely enough to get somethin' to eat." Brogue tried not to get angry, but found it hard- even talking about everything made him mad.  
"But we still have something to eat." Hope said again, trying to prove a point.  
"Yes, Hope. We have something to eat." Sky grumbled, just to shut her up.  
"Hope, just tell me one thing. Do ye hate the newsies as much as we do?" Brogue asked, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hands, looking at her.  
Hope didn't say anything for a second, thinking. "I'll put it this way. I don't think they meant to do this, make our world miserable, but they did. If there was a chance for me to tell them what they did to us, I'd take it. I'd make them feel bad because of what they did."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Meanwhile, Cricket was out looking for Cow. He finally found him sitting in the alley of a run-down apartment building, throwing rocks at the wall.  
"Is that a new game?" Cricket asked, sitting down on the ground next to Cow. When he didn't say anything, Cricket went on. "Throwing rocks at a wall won't stop you're problems, Cow. And you don't want to get in trouble."  
Cow threw the rock he had just picked up back on the ground. "That's the thing! We get in trouble for everything! I got in trouble yesterday for walking past someone's laundry hanging up! And it's not like the wall will look any worse! It can't look any worse!"  
"Calm down, Cow."  
  
"How can I? You know, just seeing them here, inside our lodging house. I just can't believe it, Cricket. How could I calm down when the reason for all our problems, for everyone hating us, is right here, in front of us, and you have us introduce ourselves, like we're friends! And you stopped me from hitting them! They deserve it, Cricket, you can't deny it! They deserve every bad thing that comes their way, and then some!" By now, Cow was shaking with rage. "Why'd you stop me, Cricket? Why? We could've killed them!"  
  
Cricket stood up. "I don't want you killing anyone, Cow."  
Cow stood up now, too, glaring at Cricket. "Why? You're not going to let us do anything! I bet you won't even tell them why we all hate them! I bet you even like them!"  
"I don't like them, Cow. But we can't just go up to them and punch them!"  
"Why not?"  
"Not without giving them an explaination."  
"Are you planning on giving them an explanation?"  
"Yeah. Tomorrow, when we meet them all."  
Cow smiled. "And then we can kill them." He sat back down, leaning against the wall.  
"No."  
  
"What?" Cow shouted, bewildered.  
Cricket sighed. "The mayor wants us to each take one of the New York newsies out to sell all day."  
Cow stared at him. "I'm not doing that. No one can make me!"  
"I hate making you all do that. It'll be a horrible day. But there's nothing I can do. The mayor told us we had to. He'd be mad if we didn't." Cricket explained sadly. "And I hate to say this, but we don't want to make him mad. He's the only adult- besides Snoot- that'll talk to us like we're normal people."  
  
"And we have to do this?" Cow asked.  
Cricket nodded. "I still haven't told anyone else. I don't want to. We shouldn't have to do this. It's only for tomorrow, though."  
Cow laughed sarcastically. "That makes it all better."  
  
"Look, Cow. You have to promise me- be nice tomorrow, alright?"  
Cow looked over at him with a revolted look on his face.  
"Please, Cow. If you try to be at least polite, everyone else will, too. Please. Just for tomorrow." Cricket pleaded.  
Cow sighed. "I'll try. But if they say anything."  
"They won't, Cow."  
"They better not."  
Cricket stood up. "Come on, we need to get back."  
  
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I hope you liked that!! Thanks for all the reviews I got for the last chapter. sorry this one took me so long. But now you get to know my characters a little better, huh? And you now see both sides. yeah, lol. 


	8. Both Sides

Disclaimer: I don't own Newsies. I do, however, own all of the Chicago newsies, and Fantasy. The rest of the girl newsies belong to their rightful owners.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The next morning, both sets of newsies got up at 7, getting dressed and ready for the day.  
  
"Hurry up, Fantasy!! We're gonna be late!" Sneaks shouted into the room  
"I'm comin', Sneaks. It ain't my fault I can't find me shoe." Fantasy called out.  
"Look in da closet!" Rain called in, trying to hurry both of the girls along.  
Fantasy got up and ran for the closet door and opened it. "Here it is!!"  
  
"I told you! Now hurry up! We have ta go!" Rain called again.  
"I'm comin'!" Fantasy called while she hopped on one foot and put on her shoe. She ran out the door and caught up with everyone by the doors. "Sorry."  
  
"Is everyone here now?!" Jack called out.  
"Yeah, now let's just get dis over with." Racetrack said.  
"Oh, come on, Race. It can't be dat bad." Jack said.  
"You didn't meet 'em yesterday." Specs pointed out.  
"Well, ya told me about it. But they can't be as bad as you say dey are." Jack said, all optimistic. "Let's get goin'."  
  
"I can't believe we have to SELL with them!" Song cried.  
"Get over it, Song. There's nothing we can do about it." Claddagh said, getting annoyed at Song. "Ye've been complainin' all night. And what good has it done?"  
  
"Nothing. So shut up already, Song." Cow complained.  
"Don't tell me what to do, Cow." Song said.  
"Will you PLEASE be quiet already?" Hope asked.  
"We need to go." Cricket said.  
Hope nodded and walked down the stairs. "Bye, Snoot."  
"Have a good day, kids." Snoot said.  
"Oh, yeah, we'll have a good day." Cow grumbled.  
  
"Which way do we go?" Mush asked.  
"I say we go da wrong way and pretend we got lost." Racetrack grumbled.  
"No, dey're expectin' us."  
  
"Don't worry, dey won't mind." Skittery said.  
"We're goin', and dat's it." Jack said.  
"It's dis way." Spot led the way down one street, then another, and another, heading in the direction of the Distribution Office.  
  
"Maybe they'll get lost!" Prayer exclaimed, always the optimistic.  
"And maybe we'll move into a mansion." Cow said sarcastically.  
"Like THAT would happen!" Tops, one of the male newsies, shouted out.  
"It might." Hope said.  
"Shut up, Hope!" Tops shouted again.  
"Leave her alone, Tops! She's not the one we should be mad at!" Brogue said.  
"Then tell her to shut up!" Tops cried.  
Cricket shook his head. "Don't fight each other. It won't help."  
  
"Is dat it?" Boots asked, pointing at the building.  
"Dat's what it says on the sign." Snoddy said.  
"Well, it doesn't look like dey're here yet." Jack said.  
"Maybe dey got lost!" Itey said hopefully. From what he heard, he wasn't looking forward to meeting the Chicago newsies.  
"Yeah, Itey, and maybe we'll be rich." Racetrack said.  
"It could happen." Jake said.  
Racetrack laughed. "How could dat happen?"  
Jake shrugged. "I don't know, I just said it could happen."  
  
"I hope dey get here soon." Jack said to Spot.  
"They'll be here soon, boys."  
Spot groaned and turned around, and there, in front of him, was Mr. Brooks. "Whatta you doin' heah?" Spot said, in a voice that said that he didn't want him there at all.  
"I was sent here. The mayor thought that you could use a little help. If you ask me, you could use more then a little help."  
"Well, we don't need help, so just go." Racetrack shouted.  
"As much as I would like to do that, I can not." Mr. Brooks said.  
Racetrack rolled his eyes.  
  
"You think they're there?" Sky asked Brogue.  
"I hope not." He answered.  
"We'll find out in a minute." Hope said.  
While they rounded the last corner, Hope held her breath, hoping they wouldn't be there. No such luck. The people at the front of the group groaned, and she sighed. It would be a long day.  
  
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Alright, I'm sorry. This chapter's like, BAD. I was gonna make it be the whole day, but I wanted to get a chapter up before school starts again Monday, and I didn't think that was gonna happen. So, here's the next chapter, and I'll try and write again soon. REVIEW!!! 


	9. Picking the Pairings

Disclaimer: I STILL don't own Newsies. And I never will. *sighs* But I can dream.  
  
__________________________________________________  
  
Cricket groaned inwardly when he saw that the New York newsies were there- and then he saw Mr. Brooks.  
"What is he doing here?" Cow asked Cricket.  
"No clue. But I wish he wasn't." Cricket answered.  
"He's almost as bad as the newsies." Cow grumbled.  
"If you ask me, he's worse." Song said, joining their conversation.  
"But we didn't ask you, so leave us alone, Song." Cow was in no mood for Song at the moment.  
"You can't tell me what to do!" Song growled.  
"Not now." Cricket said.  
Cow glared at Song and pushed her out of his way.  
"There you are." Mr. Brooks said, catching sight of them.  
"Yeah, here we are." Cricket said, walking up to him and one of the newsies.  
"This is Jack. He's the leader of the New York newsboys." Mr. Brooks said. "And this is Cricket. He's the leader of the Chicago newsboys."  
"AND GOILS!" Illusion shouted.  
"Yes, and girls." Mr. Brooks said, grimacing at her. "Now, the mayor told me that you were all to split up into pairs. Every Chicago newsboy- or girl- for a New York one. If there's any extras, you figure it out. I'm leaving the pairing to the leaders. Good luck."  
"Thanks, dat's so kind of ya!" Racetrack called after his retreating form.  
"Well, dis is easy enough. Everybody, jus' pick a partner." Jack said, taking charge.  
"That's not going to work. Jack." Cow said. "You see, I was thinking we should just leave you here, and see how you get on by yourself- you seem to think you're good at that."  
"Cow." Cricket warned.  
Jack raised his eyebrows at the pair of them. "Wha's dis about?"  
  
"We told ya, Jack. Dey don't like us." Specs said. "And dey don't want us heah."  
"Looks like they aren't as dumb as they look." Song said.  
"See, Jack," Race said, pretending he hadn't heard anything. "Dey know we'se bettah den them. Dey're too afraid dat we'll take ovah dere jobs."  
  
"Like that would happen even if you tried." Cow said.  
"Ah, but boyo, they're too lazy to try anythin'." Claddagh said, laughing.  
"Oh, 'cause we were bein' lazy durin' the strike. I forgot." Skittery said, rolling his eyes.  
"You were being lazy! All you did was sit on your butts and not sell!" Cow shouted.  
"Jus' 'cause we didn't sell doesn't mean we sat on our butts, ya bum!" Specs shouted back.  
"Oh, ye partied, too." Claddagh said, rolling her eyes.  
"We didn't party." Rave said, getting mad.  
"Sure you didn't." Rubber said, believing them.  
"Shut up, Rubber!" Song shouted.  
"Leave Rubber alone, Song, he hasn't done anything to you!" Cow yelled, turning on her.  
"Looks like no one likes ya, Song. We didn't, dat's for sure." Race said, smirking.  
"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Cow shouted, rounding back on the New York newsies.  
"Whoa. Didn't know dat would upset ya." Race said.  
"It's like havin' a brothah. Dey can yell at ya, but if anyone else does, dey soak 'em." Sneaks said to Snooza, who was standing next to her. She laughed at that.  
Cow was about ready to kill all of them by this point, as where some of the others on the Chicago side. Spot saw this, and decided to take charge, since Jack wasn't doing anything.  
"Look, jus' tell us why ya hate us, and we'll leave ya alone." Spot said.  
"Who are you?" Cow asked.  
"I'se da leadah of da Brooklyn newsies." Spot said proudly. Cow just stared at them, and Spot shook his head.  
"It don't mattah who he is. Look, we gotta get sellin'." Jack said.  
"So now you're worried about selling." Cow said.  
"He's right." Cricket turned to Jack. "How're we going to split them into pairs?"  
  
"By numbahs?" Jack asked.  
Cricket nodded. "That would work. How many do you have?"  
  
Jack turned around and counted how many newsies he had brought with him. "I got 26."  
"I have 23." Cricket said after counting.  
"Ok, den three of you will have two partners." Jack said. "Now we need ta write down some numbahs." Cricket got a pencil and a piece of paper from one of his newsies and he sat down and wrote the numbers. He ripped the paper up and put half of the torn pieces into his hat.  
"Here's you're numbers. Put them in a hat and have people pick." Cricket said.  
"How do we know who has two partners?" Jack asked.  
"The last three people will pick two numbers." Cricket said, then walked over to his newsies to have them pick their numbers. Jack did the same. No one, it seemed, wanted to have two partners, though, so Cricket, Cow, and Claddagh ended up having to pick two.  
"Well, I've got three and ten." Cricket said.  
Jack raised his eyebrows. "And I'se got ten." He looked over at Cricket. "Looks like we'se be sellin tagether. Now, who has three?"  
  
"I'se got three." Sparrow shouted.  
  
"You're selling with me, then, too." Cricket said.  
"I'se got twenty and nineteen." Cow said.  
Spot groaned. "Nineteen."  
Cow groaned, too. "Looks like you're with me, then." Cow said.  
"Who has twenty?" Spot asked, hoping that the next person would be someone he liked.  
"I do." Sneaks said, walking over to them. She smiled at Spot, and he smiled back. If he was going to be stuck with Cow, at least someone else would be there, too.  
"I have thirteen and one." Claddagh said, then looked up. "Who's with me?"  
  
"That'd be me." Tumbler said. "I have one."  
  
"This is Tumbler." Jack said.  
"Hello, lad. I'm Claddagh." She said. Tumbler smiled at her.  
"And I have thirteen." David said. "I'm David, by the way."  
"And I'm Claddagh." She said.  
"Why don't youse go sell? Me and Cricket'll wait til everyone's finished." Jack said to David and Spot.  
"We'll see you later, then." David said, and the six of them went to buy their papers.  
"Who's left?" Cricket asked.  
Racetrack stepped forward. "I'se got five."  
Song groaned. "I'm stuck with HIM?"  
"Someone wanna change wit me?" Racetrack asked.  
"No switchin' Race. Just go buy yer papes." Jack said.  
Racetrack rolled his eyes and started following the others. Song went and joined him.  
"Look, ya ain't wit me if anyone asks, got it?" Race said.  
"I don't want to be with you, either." Song said.  
"Great, den stay at least five feet away from me." Race said. They kept on walking towards the distribution center, arguing all the way.  
"I'se got 12." Illusion said.  
"So do I." one of the girls said. "I'm Gem, by the way."  
  
"Illusion." She said. "Let's get dis ovah with."  
  
The two of them followed the rest, not talking at all. The pairing went on, and the 'partners' walked away in various different ways- Skittery and his 'partner', Curly, were ignoring each other, Eraser and her 'partner', Tickles, a ten year old boy, were making fun of each other, and so on.  
The last groups to leave were Cricket, Jack, and Sparrow's group, and then the last two groups that were paired: Brogue, and his 'partner', Fantasy, and Sky, with his 'partner', Rave. They walked to the distribution center and got in line.  
"Jack, why do we gotta sell wit 'em?" Sparrow asked him.  
Jack looked over at the younger girl who still had a hint of an Irish accent, though she tried to hide it. "Da mayor told us dey needed help."  
"It doesn't look like it." Sparrow said.  
"It doesn't." Jack agreed.  
Behind them, Fantasy was talking to her 'partner'. She remembered him from the day before, and she really wanted to ask him why they hated them. But she didn't. Not yet.  
"Did ya move heah from Ireland?" Fantasy asked.  
Brogue was staring at the front of the line, but glanced over at her when she asked her question. He nodded. "Aye. Me sister and I."  
"Oh, so dat goil's yer sistah?" Fantasy asked.  
Brogue frowned. "Why do ye care?"  
  
Fantasy shrugged. "Why wouldn't I?"  
  
Brogue turned toward her. "Then yes, she is."  
  
Fantasy smiled. "Dat's all I wanted ta know." She looked up towards the sky. "Wheah did ya live in Ireland?"  
  
"In Westport." Brogue said. "I doubt ye've heard o' it."  
  
"I have dough! Me dad lived on a farm by dere!" Fantasy said. She looked down from the sky, and saw that he now looked as interested as she felt.  
"Did he? What's your last name?" Brogue asked.  
"McGreevey." Fantasy said.  
"Do ye still have family there?" Brogue asked.  
Fantasy nodded. "Yeah. Me dad had three budders and four sistahs, and dey're all dere. I write to 'em sometimes."  
"I know 'em!" Brogue said.  
Fantasy smiled "Ya do? How?"  
"One o' 'em live by a peat bog." Brogue said. "They'd sell it in town, and we always bought it from 'em. We're great friends."  
  
"Dat's me Uncle Sean. He lives on da bog." She said.  
"Aye! That's his name!" Brogue said. "I'll have to write me Ma tonight and tell 'er."  
  
"Yer Ma?" Fantasy asked.  
Brogue nodded. "Me whole family's over there, except for me sister. We're savin' up to get them over."  
  
"I'm sorry. It must be hard ta live so far away." Fantasy said. Brogue nodded.  
"Move up, Fantasy!" Rave shouted from behind them. Fantasy looked in front of her and saw that they were next.  
"Whoops." Fantasy said. She looked back at Brogue, but he had already walked ahead. He had been so caught up in what they were talking about, he had forgotten he hated the New York newsies. Fantasy sighed and followed him, thinking the same thing.  
"Brogue, wait for me! We'll sell together!" Sky called to him as he walked down the steps. Brogue nodded and stopped. Fantasy joined him after she bought her papers, and shortly after, Sky and Rave joined them, too.  
"Shall we go, ladies?" Sky asked, feigning politeness.  
Brogue rolled his eyes, but nodded and fell in next to him. Fantasy and Rave were walking behind them.  
"Wait for me!" Hope called from behind them. "I was waiting for you, but I guess you didn't see me."  
"Us." Atlantic corrected.  
Hope nodded at her 'partner'. "Sure, us."  
"Let's go. We already wasted time pickin' numbahs and all." Rave said.  
"Come on, we'll go to where we normally sell." Sky said.  
"Sure. Den you can see us beat ya." Rave said, smiling.  
  
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Wow, that's one of the longest chapters I've ever written!! Though it does look a lot longer on Word than on ff.net.  
  
Anyway, just to let you know, Westport is a real town in Ireland, and I've been there twice. I have family there, so I figured I'd use that.  
  
Oh, and peat is this stuff that they used to dig up from the ground in Ireland, and they used it instead of wood to make their fires. NOW REVIEW!!!!!! lol. 


	10. Lunch Time!

Disclaimer: Newsies=Disney. Me=Sad. Lol, but yeah, Disney owns the Newsies, I own Fantasy and the Chicago newsies, and the rest own themselves.  
  
Thanks to everyone who reviewed!!  
  
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Atlantic, Fantasy, Rave, Sky, Hope, and Brogue walked along the streets of Chicago, and stopped when they reached Lincoln Park.  
"We get the most customers here." Sky said. "How about you three sell over there," he pointed to the south side of the park, "and we'll sell over there." This time he pointed to the north side.  
"Brilliant plan. 'Cept we can't find a restaurant by ourselves, and we're plannin' on havin' lunch taday." Rave said.  
Sky rolled his eyes. "You should've brought something to eat, then."  
  
"Look, we'se supposed ta sell wit you. Dat's da whole point of our trip, ya know." Rave frowned.  
"Yeah, I mean, we should try an' get ta know each oddah." Fantasy said.  
"How about, you three get to know each other better, and us three will get to know each other better." Sky suggested.  
"Sky, we probably should sell together." Hope said. "We're only doing to them what everyone here's been doing to us."  
"What'd ya mean?" Atlantic asked.  
"Everyone that lives here is blaming us for what the mayor's been doing." Hope answered.  
"And dis has ta do wit us... how?" Fantasy asked.  
"The mayor started all of this after you won the strike." Sky said. "If you hadn't, everything would be the same! We wouldn't be starving, and all the families living on the streets wouldn't be, either. People would actually buy papers from us, and we'd be let into all the restaurants, not just one of them. And these houses- they wouldn't be falling down. Chicago was a better place, until you won your damn strike!"  
  
"How did we make families live on da streets? Or make ya starve?" Rave asked, getting angry. "We'se was fightin' for da rights of people like us- and people like you!"  
  
"We never asked you to fight for our rights!" Sky shouted. The people around them stared, and those with children moved them farther away, afraid that the 'street rats' would start a fight.  
Brogue looked at his friend, surprised. He rarely got this angry. Fantasy and Atlantic, however, knew Rave too well and looked at each other a little fearfully; the mood she was in was almost always followed by a fight.  
"Rave..." Fantasy warned. Rave, however, didn't hear her, or choose to ignore her.  
"How were we supposed ta know dat dis would happen?! If youse was in our place, ya would've done da same thing!" Rave shouted back.  
"Oh really? You're sure about that?" Sky asked coldly.  
"If your friends and home and way of life was in danger, wouldn't you fight to fix it?" Rave asked, toning her voice down but definitely not her anger.  
"What'd you think we're doing now? You ruined our home, our way of life, and made us all miserable."  
  
"Look, if they'd 'a known dis would've happened... How could dey have known? Dis all started because Pulitzer raised da price of our papes. It turned out differently den dey thought it would." Rave said. "Ya think dat I like seein' Chicago dis way, dat dis is what we wanted ta happen? 'Cause it ain't."  
"Why do you care what Chicago looked like?" Sky asked.  
"I lived heah up until two years ago." Rave said. Her anger lessened as she looked around. "It's different, but I don't like it."  
  
The Chicago newsies stared at her for a few minutes, not sure what to say.  
"Well, we should get sellin'." Brogue said, breaking the silence.  
"Let's spread out a bit and not steal each oddahs customers." Fantasy said. The rest nodded and did just that.  
Fantasy made sure she was by Atlantic, and after they had sold for a few hours, she went over by the other girl, a little disappointed because she had only sold five of her papers.  
"Dat was weird." She said.  
Atlantic nodded. "It didn't end in a fight."  
  
Fantasy laughed. "I was surprised, dough, dat she told 'em she lived heah before."  
"I don't think she meant ta. It's one of dos things dat jus' come out when you're mad." Atlantic said, setting down her papers and sitting next to the younger girl.  
"Well, it stopped da fight." Fantasy said.  
"Which is a very good thing." Atlantic said.  
"Is it jus' me, or is it hard ta sell heah?" Fantasy asked.  
"I can't sell too many, eddah." Atlantic said. "Which makes me think dat what dey were sayin' is true."  
  
"It has ta be." Fantasy said. "Dey wouldn't be mad at us for nothin'." She sighed. "I feel bad, dat we ruined everythin' for 'em."  
"So do I, but it's not really our fault." Atlantic said. "Nobody knew dis would happen..."  
"Ya know, I'se getting' a little hungry." Fantasy said.  
"So am I. Ya wanna go talk to 'em?" Atlantic asked. Fantasy nodded and they both picked up their papers. Rave joined them as them walked past her selling spot, where she had been sitting on top of the papers that she was supposed to be selling.  
"Hard time sellin'?" Fantasy asked.  
"You can tell?" Rave asked. The three girls laughed.  
"It's not so funny if it happens every day." Sky said from behind them. They all turned around to find him, Brogue, and Hope behind them.  
"Ye want some lunch?" Brogue asked them.  
"Yeah, we'se starvin'." Rave said.  
"You don't know what it's like to be starving." Sky said.  
"Come on, we know this great restaurant." Hope said, interfering.  
"Great, let's go, we could use somethin' ta eat." Fantasy said.  
"Is it close?" Atlantic asked.  
Hope nodded. "It's right down this block. We go there every day for lunch."  
  
"Ya think anyone else will be dere?" Rave asked, not wanting to sit with her 'partner' for all of lunch.  
"They might be, though they've been goin' to the lodgin' house most days." Brogue said. "Snoot makes great sandwiches."  
"Why don't we go dere, too?" Rave asked.  
"It's a pretty far walk." Hope said.  
"I ain't afraid of walkin'." Rave answered.  
"Ye'll like the restaurant, lass, I promise." Brogue said.  
That made Rave laugh. "Lass?"  
Brogue shrugged. "I don't know your name."  
"Dat can be fixed. I'se Rave." She said. "And now dat ya mention it- what's your name?"  
"I'm Hope." She said, laughing. "I guess we forgot to introduce ourselves."  
"We bettah do dat, then, 'cause I'se not sure who you are." Fantasy said, pointing to Sky.  
He sighed. "I'm Sky, and you?"  
  
"Oh, I'se Fantasy."  
"And I'se Atlantic."  
  
"Brogue."  
  
"Suits ya." Rave said, talking to Brogue.  
"Aye, that's who I got it." Brogue laughed.  
All of a sudden, Hope stopped. "Umm... we passed the restaurant."  
They all looked behind them, and Sky and Brogue recognized the awning of the only restaurant that would let them in.  
"Aye, that we did. Good eye, Hope." Brogue said, turning around.  
The group retraced their steps, where they stopped in front of Donavan's. "This is it." Sky said.  
Rave's eyes widened as she saw the name and the familiar building. "It's Donavan's!" she cried.  
"Good to know you can read." Sky said.  
Rave, however, ignored him and barged straight into the restaurant. "Maggie Donavan, get out heah right now!"  
Everyone else followed her in, but stood by the door, startled.  
"Maggie Donavan, I swear! If ya don't come out right now..." Rave started to shout, and then stopped as a middle-aged woman stepped out from the kitchen. Rave recognized her right away, though her hair was beginning to gray and she looked smaller and thinner. She ran over to her and gave her a hug. "Maggie Donavan! I didn't except ta see you again!"  
Maggie hugged her back, and then held her out at arm's length to get a good look at her. "I have to say the same, missy, though I can't say I'm not glad to see you. My, you've grown!"  
Rave laughed. "It's been two years."  
  
Maggie laughed with her. "Indeed it has. Two long years."  
"What happened to your hair, Maggie?" Rave asked.  
Maggie reached her hand up to her rapidly graying hair. "Hard times, Rave, dear. We haven't been getting many customers."  
"Well, taday you've got six of 'em, three of which have plenty of money for yer great cookin'!" Rave shouted, waving to the five newsies standing by the door. They came forward.  
"Maggie, I'd like ya ta meet me friends, Fantasy an' Atlantic. And dese three are newsies heah in Chicago..."  
"Hope, Sky, and Brogue." Maggie said, cutting her off. "I know them."  
"Ya know 'em?" Rave asked.  
"They're my most frequent customers." Maggie said. "If it wasn't for them, coming every day, I'd 'a had to close down." She smiled at them, and they smiled back. "I'm delighted to meet you two. A friend of Rave is a friend of mine!"  
"We've come for lunch." Sky said, though it was not needed.  
Maggie laughed. "In that case, pick a table, any table! I'll be out with you in a few minutes. I need to find that darn Eddie..." Mumbling to herself, she walked back into the kitchen.  
"You know Maggie?" Rave asked.  
"We told you we ate here every day." Hope said.  
"You know Maggie?" Sky asked.  
"I told ya I used ta live heah." Rave answered, smiling. "I used ta come heah all da time. I helped her in da kitchen if she needed it."  
Brogue smiled. "This time, you're here as a customer."  
Fantasy laughed. "Which table?"  
The six newsies moved from table to table, sitting down and then standing up, until they found a table that they all liked, which took a long time.  
"I like dis one." Atlantic said.  
"Nah, it's got a tilt to it." Rave said, and they all got up and went to the next table.  
"This one's good." Sky said.  
"No, me chair's wobbly." Fantasy said, and they were up again, heading for the next table, which was a two-person table.  
"I don't think this one will work." Hope said.  
"We can make it work!" Rave shouted. She pushed Fantasy down in one of the chairs, and then pushed Atlantic onto her lap. Then she sat on top of both of them. "I'se comfortable."  
Sky grinned. "That's a good idea." He grabbed Hope, but instead of putting her on the other chair, he put her on top of Rave, and then Brogue on top of her. He laughed and then sat on top of him. "You're right, very comfortable."  
"Get off, yer hurtin' me legs!" Fantasy yelled.  
"Aww, I'm sorry." Sky said, and shifted his position. "Does this help?"  
"No!" Fantasy shouted.  
"Good!" Sky laughed, but the next second he was on the ground with Brogue on top of him. "What the..." Sky started.  
Fantasy groaned.  
"What's wrong?" Atlantic asked.  
"Da chair broke!" Fantasy said. She sat up and lifted up one of the legs of the chair. Everyone laughed.  
"What should we do?" Hope asked.  
"I'll be in in a second!" Maggie called through the door.  
"Quick, hide it!" Rave whispered.  
"Where?" Brogue asked.  
They all looked around, trying to find a place to hide the broken pieces. Fantasy's eyes landed on the umbrella holder, while Brogue's landed on the cabinets that held towels and plates.  
Fantasy grabbed the legs and all the nails she could find, while Brogue grabbed all the bigger pieces. The two raced to the different spots, and then ran back to the table that Atlantic, Rave, Sky, and Hope had sat down at. They sat in the empty chairs just in time. Maggie walked through the kitchen door, and the six at the table laughed.  
"What'd I miss?" Maggie asked.  
"Nothin'." Rave said. "How 'bout some lunch?"  
Everyone agreed, and they ordered. And if anyone looked in through the windows, they would have seen what looked like a group of friends, for the six newsies, though they hadn't forgotten where they were from, were talking and having fun, forgetting for a time that they should be mad at each other. 


	11. This is War

Disclaimer: I don't own Newsies, I don't claim to, and so on and so forth. But yeah, Newsies belongs to Disney, Fantasy and the Chicago newsies belong to me, and the rest belong to themselves. ______________________________________  
  
The six newsies were having a great time. They had forgotten all about their anger that morning, and were becoming, well, there's no other way to put it: friends. Rave had gotten past everything just because of the fact that Maggie was friends with the Chicago newsies. And the reason was the same for Sky. They stayed at the restaurant long after they had finished eating, getting to know each other, and not noticing what time it was.  
"We'se got two lodgin' houses... one for da boys and one for da goils." Fantasy said.  
"Well, you saw our lodging house. We have one." Hope said.  
"Yeah, but it's BIG!" Fantasy said. "Ours ain't even half dat size!"  
"Most of it is the warehouse at the bottom." Sky complained.  
"Ya live in a warehouse?" Rave asked, not having seen it the day before.  
"Well, on top of it." Sky said.  
"Ay, but it's not used anymore." Brogue said.  
"At least it's by da watah." Atlantic said.  
"You like the water?" Sky asked.  
"It's bettah than bein' smushed between two othah buildin's." Atlantic said.  
"Yeah, well, we're pretty much off by ourselves." Sky said. "Not many people want to get near us."  
They were all silent for a moment, but then Sky spoke again. "You know, until today, I blamed you for all of this."  
"Wow, really? Wouldn't 'a noticed." Rave said, smiling.  
Sky laughed. "Alright, so you knew that already. But I don't anymore."  
"And neither do we." Hope said, speaking for both her and Brogue.  
The three other girls smiled.  
"Thanks." Fantasy said. "I hope everyone else stopped fightin'..."  
"We'll see soon enough!" Hope said. "The night papers start selling in a minute!"  
Everyone turned to look at the clock.  
"Shoot, we've gotta go! Come on!" Sky shouted. Everyone jumped up. Maggie came out of the back at that moment and was surprised to see them in such a hurry.  
"What's wrong?" she asked.  
"We gotta go sell." Atlantic said.  
"Bye, Maggie! We'll come by tomorrow!" Sky said, rushing out the door. The rest followed.  
"It was good seein' ya again, Maggie!" Rave said, and then ran out after the rest. "So, how far are we?"  
"It'll take us almost ten minutes to get there!" Hope said.  
Fantasy groaned. "Ten minutes?"  
"We better run." Brogue said. "I'd like to see how everyone's day was, ye know."  
"Well, you know da way." Rave said, and they set off at a run, dodging everything from carriages and people to birds and boxes. When they finally reached the Distribution Center, they were all out of breath, but had gotten there just in time. It looked like they weren't the only ones late; the gate was just opening.  
"Good, we made it." Hope said.  
"Look, dere's Jack!" Atlantic said, pointing over to the left.  
"And Cricket..." Sky said, a little less enthusiastically. Cricket was standing across from Jack, and from what he could see, neither looked happy. "Come on, let's see what this is about."  
The six of them walked over, close enough to hear.  
"What are you playin' at?" Jack yelled.  
"What do you mean, what am I playing at?" Cricket shouted back. "You've no right to just come here and say that!"  
"I do have a right! Jus' so happen dat YOUR mayor had us come heah!" Jack yelled. "It wasn't our idea!"  
"We don't want you here, go home!" Cow shouted.  
"Yeah, well, dere's nothin' you can do about us. We're heah for a week, whethah you like it or not." Jack said, smirking.  
"Well, we DON'T like it!" Song shouted.  
"Very clevah, Song." Racetrack said, laughing.  
"Leave her alone." Cow said, extremely angry.  
"Leave HIM alone!" Spot shouted, stepping up next to Jack.  
"Aww, so you need someone else to stick up for you, is that it?" Cow said.  
"Ah, his lover, that is." Claddagh said, smiling.  
"You WHORE!" Spot shouted. Jack and David grabbed onto him to keep him from hurting her.  
Back in the group of six, Brogue closed his eyes and bit his lip. He took that to heart... his sister was not a whore. Far from it.  
Claddagh, on the other hand, was still smiling. "Oh, lad. As my mum used to say 'Sticks and stones make break bones, but names 'ill never hurt thee.'"  
Cow looked like he was ready to kill Spot or any of the other New York newsies, but he didn't. Cricket stepped forward now, so he was in front of all the Chicago newsies. It was a rare thing to see the pure hatred in his eyes as he addressed Jack.  
"You come here, and expect us to worship you. I can't stand it anymore! I let you say things about my friends all day, but I'm not anymore. From now on, if any one of my newsies feels like fighting, I'll let them." Cricket said. Some of the younger newsies, on both sides, looked at him in awe. Something about the way he said that, and how he was standing, showed how... well, IMPORTANT he looked, with all his newsies standing behind him. Looking at the New York newsies was much the same; both sides had fierce loyalty to one another and their appointed leaders, and one bad thing said about any of them was like saying something about all of them.  
Jack let go of Spot, who had stopped struggling and instead had changed to glaring. "Den let 'em. I'll do the same. Ya know what dis means, right?" Jack asked.  
"This means war. You watch out for your newsies, Jack. I assume you know how this works?" Cricket asked coldly.  
"Yeah. Watch out for all da little ones. We ain't sparin' no one." Jack turned around, gerturing for the newsies to follow him. Instead of going through the gates, they all walked back in the direction of the hotel. Cricket and the Chicago newsies still stood there, watching them pass. When they had gone, he turned around.  
"We need to go to the Lodging House. We'll sell tomorrow morning, but right now we need a plan." The Chicago newsies nodded, and they all turned and followed Cricket back to their lodging house.  
Sky slowly turned around and faced the other five. "Oh, shit." He said.  
"What are we gonna do?" Hope asked.  
"I can't believe dis! And aftah we got ta know you..." Fantasy trailed off, staring in the direction the New Yorkers had gone. "I can't fight ya!"  
  
"Well, we aren't going to fight each other!" Sky said. "We'll stop them from fighting."  
"And how do we do dat?" Atlantic asked. She sat down on the curb, thinking.  
"We'll think 'o something." Brogue said.  
"Like what? 'Jack, dey ain't bad. Stop fightin' 'em, and everything will be ok.' Well, dat ain't gonna work." Rave said.  
"You're not going to join in, are?" Hope asked Rave.  
"No, I'se not gonna join dat war." Rave said. Then her eyes widened. "Dat's it! We'll ALL join in!"  
"WHAT are you talking about?" Sky asked.  
"We can't have dem all knowing we're fightin' against 'em, so we'll pretend ta join in. It'll be like a conspiracy."  
  
"Wow, big word." Fantasy said.  
Rave laughed. "We'll plot against 'em. We'll find out what Jack's gonna do, dey'll find out what Cricket's gonna do, and we'll figure out a way ta stop it, before someone gets killed."  
Fantasy gulped. "Killed?"  
  
Brogue looked away sadly. "Never been part o' a war, have ye?" Fantasy shook her head. "It's not anythin' to be proud of."  
"Don't worry about it, no one will get killed, if we do this right." Sky said. "It's a good idea."  
"Thank you." Rave said.  
Sky rolled his eyes. "Meet at Donavan's tomorrow for lunch, we'll go over everything we find out, ok? We should get going now, before they notice we're not there."  
Rave nodded. "We'll meet you there, then."  
Fantasy helped Atlantic up and they walked toward the hotel, and for Fantasy, the trip took too short of a time. She didn't want to be part of a war, or spying on her friends. She sighed, because she knew there was nothing else she could do. They stopped in front of Jack's door, where everyone's voices were coming from.  
"Ready?" Rave asked, and then knocked on the door. _________________________________________  
  
I'M FINALLY AT THE GOOD PART!!! AHH!! Lol. I hope you liked this chapter. It does kinda go fast, I know that (like how they become friends in such a short time). But anyway, I decided to write a chapter every weekend. The next chapters will be good!! We're finally getting to the part I planned out!! Hehehe. Please review!! 


	12. Racetrack and Skittery

Disclaimer: I don't own Newsies. I own Fantasy and the Chicago newsies, everyone else owns them selves.  
  
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Rave, Atlantic, and Fantasy walked through the door and into a room full of the newsies.  
"Wheah were you?" Jack asked.  
"Sellin'. Took us forevah. How come ya ain't out sellin' the night edition?" Rave asked.  
"We're at war." Jack said.  
"Sorry, what was dat? I thought ya jus' said we're at war." Rave said.  
"Dat's 'cause he did." Spot said.  
"We're at WAR? Wit who?" Atlantic asked.  
"Da Chicago newsies." Racetrack said. "Dey hate us, in case ya didn't notice."  
"We noticed." Rave mumbled.  
"Alright, so look. Nobody can be out by dem selves. Ya know how dese wars woik. Dey hoit however dey find, so ya gotta be with at least one person. And get home before it gets dark out, especially you little kids." Jack said. "And if ya find anyone you can outnumbah, hoit 'em. Everyone, get ta bed. Anyone oldah den fifteen, come wit me. We need ta come up wit a plan."  
"So can I come, or no?" Rave asked.  
"No, yer too young, Rave." Jack said. "Sixteen or oldah."  
"Yer KIDDIN' me Jack!" Cocky cried out.  
"I ain't." Jack said. "Why don't ya get da little ones ta sleep?"  
  
The six girls who had to stay behind, along with the two boys who had to, stood staring after the rest of the newsies heading to the lounge on the first floor.  
When Atlantic passed, though, she whispered to Fantasy and Rave. "I'll tell ya everything, and we can figure somethin' out."  
And then they were gone.  
"Well, I feel wanted." Cocky said.  
"Yeah, Jack always knows what ta say ta make sure of dat, doesn't he?" Rain asked sarcastically.  
"Yeah, well, he left us behind, too." Boots said, pointing to him and Tumbler.  
"Ya ain't old enough, Boots." Fantasy said, mimicking Jack.  
Boots frowned. "Well, neither are you!" He turned around, grabbed Tumbler, and headed to his room. He spoke to Tumbler but made sure the girls heard him. "Yer comin' ta my room. Ya don't wanna get stuck wit GOILS."  
"GROW UP, BOOTS!" Rave shouted after him.  
"What are we gonna do now?" Eraser asked. "I ain't goin' ta bed, it's not even seven yet!"  
"We could go get somethin' ta eat." Rain suggested.  
"From wheah?" Sparrow asked.  
Rain shrugged. "Da little restaurant thing in da hotel."  
"Da one by da longue?" Cocky said darkly.  
Fantasy's eyes opened wide. "Dat's it!"  
"What's it?" Eraser asked.  
"My room is on da foist floor." Fantasy said.  
"Yeah, and so is ours." Rave said, nodding at Rain. "We have da same room, Fantasy."  
"Yeah, a room right next ta da longue." Fantasy said, eyes sparkling.  
"Right, and what about it?" Cocky said.  
"Well, we could spy on 'em." Fantasy said. "I mean,we jus' need to be able ta hear 'em..."  
"What does dat have ta do with out room?" Rave asked, eyebrow raised.  
"Dere's a vent in our room, right next ta da door." Fantasy said. When nobody responded, she sighed. "We can listen through it."  
"Dat wouldn't woik." Rave said. "Dey ain't loud enough."  
"It might." Sparrow said.  
"Thank you." Fantasy said.  
"How would it woik?" Rain asked. "Dey're too far away."  
"Dey're right, ya know." Eraser said.  
  
Fantasy sighed. "We need ta think of somethin'. I hate how dey say we're too young."  
"Well, there ARE a few rathah large fake trees around da lounge dat we could hide behind." Cocky said, smiling.  
The other five girls grinned.  
  
"Sounds good ta me." Rave said.  
"Come on, before we miss everything." Rain said, and the girls walked down the stairs, tip-toeing once they reached the first floor. There were four large trees and two, smaller bushes for them to hide behind.  
"It's a good thing all dere backs are to us." Rave whispered to Fantasy. She nodded.  
"Da bushes are really close ta them." Sparrow said. "Maybe everyone should hide behind da trees."  
Fantasy shook her head. "I'll go ovah to the bushes. Even if you can't hear, I'll be able to."  
"I'll go ta the othah one." Rave said.  
"Be careful!" Cocky whispered to them as Fantasy and Rave crawled towards the bushes. Fortunately, no one saw them.  
"Can ya heah what dey're sayin'?" Fantasy whispered to Rave.  
"Yeah." Rave said. "Now shh, I'm tryin' ta listen..."  
  
~*~  
  
The next morning, Fantasy was heading out the door on her way to the distribution office. She had been a little late in getting up, so everyone had left before her. Or so she had thought.  
"Fantasy! Fantasy, wait up!" a voice called from behind. Fantasy turned around and saw Racetrack walking towards her. "Ya took long enough."  
"Whatta you doin' heah, Race?" she asked.  
"Ya hoid Jack last night, no one goes anywhere by demselves." Race said.  
"Even during da day?" Fantasy asked.  
"Nevah been in a war, huh?" Racetrack asked. "Trust me, ya NEVAH want ta be by yerself."  
"Well, thanks fer waitin'. I wouldn't 'a taken so long if I knew youse were here."  
"Ah, no big deal." Race said. "Ya jus' owe me a game of poker."  
Fantasy rolled her eyes. "Sure, Race."  
"Come on, before dey sell out." Race said, and he opened the door for her.  
"Thanks, Race. Yer such a gentleman." Fantasy said sarcastically.  
"I know, ain't I?" Race said, smirking.  
They started walking, but after five minutes, Racetrack practically started running, trying to get there sooner, wondering if anything would happen- or was happening right now.  
"Race, slow down!" Fantasy called out.  
"Go faster, Fantasy! Somethin' might be happenin'!"  
Fantasy rolled her eyes but started running, too. When they finally reached the distribution center, they saw that the Chicago newsies weren't even there yet.  
"Least we got exercise, huh, Race?" Fantasy said.  
Race smiled at her. "Yeah, it's a good thing, too. You needed it."  
"Race!" Fantasy said, laughing a little.  
"Come on." Race said, and they walked over to join the group of newsies gathered outside the gates. "Whatcha waitin' for, fellahs?"  
"Good, yer heah." Jack said.  
"Yeah, dis one took a long time." Race said, nodded at Fantasy.  
"Sorry." Fantasy answered.  
"Don't mattah. Look, Fantasy, we'se got somethin' ta do taday. If ya wanna sell, ya can. But ya don't have ta." Jack said.  
Fantasy nodded and walked over to Rave and Atlantic. "Why ain't we sellin'?"  
"Dey need ta plan somethin'." Rave said. "And dey won't let us goils jelp 'em."  
"Which is good, 'cause we gotta go meet da guys at Donavan's." Atlantic said. "Come on, dey might have news."  
Rave rolled her eyes but lead the other two girls to Donavan's. Brogue, Sky, and Hope were already inside why they got there. The three girls joined them.  
"Heya." Fantasy said, sitting down in a chair.  
"You have any news?" Sky asked.  
"Yeah. But all dey're doin' for now is lookin' for small groups of ya ta gang up on." Rave said.  
"Ay, and the same for us." Brogue said. "We need to be comin' up with a way to stop this all."  
"No kiddin'." Rave exclaimed.  
"But how?" Hope asked.  
Nobody knew, and the group fell silent.  
The group outside, however was not quiet. Without the girls' knowing, Racetrack and Skittery had followed them to the restaurant, Jack's orders. The boys were not to let any girls be on their own, no matter if it was a big group or not. And when the two saw the girls talking to Chicago newsies, they were amazed.  
"Can you believe dat? Dey're talkin' to da enemy!" Racetrack shouted.  
"We should tell Jack." Skittery said, still staring in the restaurant.  
"We'll talk ta dem, and then we'll go tell Jack." Race said, and he barged into the restaurant.  
The group looked up at the door, and the three girls' eyes widened and they all stood up.  
"Race!" Fantasy said.  
"What are ya doin'?" Race shouted. "Do ya know who you're talkin' to?!"  
"Yeah, we ain't stupid ya know." Rave said.  
Atlanitc groaned. "Not right now, Rave."  
"Well, what are ya doin'?" Skittery asked.  
"I know dis looks bad..." Fantasy started.  
"Yeah it looks bad!" Race said.  
"Listen, Race. Please. We're only tryin' ta stop da war. Dey don't like it, either." Fantasy said. "We were talkin' yesterday, and when we got back and den we found out dat ya wanted ta go ta war, none of us wanted it."  
"How do I know dat's da truth, you ain't jus' tellin' 'em our plans." Race asked.  
"Why would we do dat? You're our friends, we don't want ya hoit." Atlantic said.  
"Look, I'm sorry that we all hated you. It wasn't fair, we didn't know you. But we got to know these three a little yesterday, and realized we were wrong. We don't want to fight against them, but we can't go against our friends, either. We don't want this war." Sky said.  
"I think dey're tellin' da truth, Race." Skittery said.  
Race nodded. "Alright. We won't tell Jack."  
  
Fantasy smiled. "Thanks, Race!" She ran up to him and hugged him, and did the same to Skittery.  
"Ya know, we could use some help." Rave said, glancing over at the Race and Skittery.  
Race smirked. "Good thing we're heah, den."  
Brogue stood up. "Welcome to the conspiracy."  
  
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Right. So yeah, not my best, but it got it's point across, anyway. I hope... hehe. Anyway, now Race and Skittery are on their side!!! I actually wasn't going to do that, but I figured that it would be better that way. The next chapter will be good, though. The first person will get hurt!! Dun dun dun!! Ok, now review!!! 


	13. An Injury

Disclaimer: I don't own the Newsies. The only person I do own is Fantasy. The rest of them own themselves!! Oh, and I own the Chicago newsies.  
  
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"Run!!" Rave shouted. She, Fantasy, and Atlantic had been out by themselves the next day, trying to get to know the Chicago street names and where the alleys were. But it wasn't going to be that easy. There were three of them, all girls, and a group of five Chicago newsies, all boys, had found them.  
  
All three of them began running, turning to push their way through crowds of people to get away. "Dis way!" Rave shouted, turned down a smaller street with not as many people. They paused for a second, catching their breath, thinking that they might have lost the five boys.  
  
"We should separate!" Fantasy said breathlessly.  
  
"No good. We're bettah off tagether." Rave said.  
  
"We can't get rid of 'em if we don't split up, Rave. She's right!" Atlantic said.  
  
"We probably lost 'em already..." Rave said. "I mean, dey would've found us heah by now if not."  
  
"Rave. Dey know these streets. Dey'll find us." Atlantic said. "We need ta split up. You two go dat way, I'll go dis way."  
  
"What?" Fantasy said, staring at the older girl.  
  
"You go dat way, and split up once ya get ta the next street. Now go!" Atlantic waited and made sure the other two split up at the end of the street, and then turned to go the other way. She got out onto Elm Street and shot across the street towards an alley. But no sooner did she leave the street than she heard feet behind her. She didn't look back, but kept going- until she reached the fence. She was trapped.  
  
"You can run, but you can't hide." One of the three newsies told her, sneering.  
  
She didn't recognize him, or one of the others. But the one on the far left; that was Cow.  
  
"So, they let you go off alone, did they?" Cow asked.  
  
"No." Atlantic said, trying not to tremble.  
  
Cow laughed. "A rebel, then?" Atlantic didn't say anything.  
  
"There's no one around to help you, you know." The third boy said.  
  
Atlantic nodded, and then suddenly sprung forward, trying to get through two of the boys to the street beyond. They stopped her, however, and Cow laughed again.  
  
"Nice try, dear."  
  
The two boys pushed her back against the fence. She didn't know what to do but stand there helplessly as Cow stared at her with anger burning in his eyes.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Fantasy stopped. She could not run any longer. It wasn't possible. She leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath. She had no idea where she was, but at the moment she didn't care. She was worried about her friends, and she hoped they were both ok. She was pretty sure she had lost the one boy who had tried following her. She frowned. If there had only been one of the boys after her, her friends couldn't have been in too good of shape.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rave skidded to a stop in front of Donavan's and stared through the window, squinting from the glare from the sun. She couldn't see anything, but that didn't mean anything. She walked into the shop, the little bell above the door ringing merrily.  
  
"Maggie?!" Rave called. "Maggie, are ya in here?"  
  
Maggie came out of the back room, wiping her hands on a towel. "Rave, dear, what are you doing here? Where are your friends?"  
  
"Ya mean dey ain't here?" Rave asked, staring at her.  
  
"No, they aren't." Maggie said, staring at her. "Rave, are you alright?"  
  
"Dey could be anywhere!" Rave exclaimed. "And what if dey got caught..." she shivered thinking about it.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Maggie asked. She went up and felt her forehead. "It doesn't feel like you have a fever, but-"  
  
"I don't have a fever, Maggie. Me friends are in trouble." Rave explained.  
  
"What happened to them?" she asked.  
  
"We were- Oh, thank GOD!" the little bell over the door had rung again, and Rave had turned to find Hope, Sky, and Brogue. "Atlantic and Fantasy are in trouble."  
  
"What?" Hope asked.  
  
"We were out, and dese five newsies saw us and chased us. I don't know where Fantasy and Atlantic are, and only one of 'em followed me..."  
  
"You mean you split up?" Sky asked.  
  
"We had to! We couldn't lose them. Though I didn't want to split up in the first place." Rave said. "We need ta do somethin'."  
  
"That we will. And don't worry so much, Rave. They can take care of themselves." Brogue said.  
  
Rave sighed. "But what?"  
  
"We'll look for them." Sky said. "You go find Racetrack or Skittery, and we'll look for them now."  
  
"I don't need Race or Skittery..."  
  
"You can't go by yourself again." Hope said. "Just find them."  
  
*~*~*  
  
Fantasy wandered around. Now that she could breathe and think correctly, she was worried. She had no clue where she was, and she had no idea how to get to where she wanted to go. She frowned and sat down on a curb.  
  
"Jus' great." She grumbled. "It'd be a miracle if I evah found me way home."  
  
"Here's your miracle, then." A voice said from behind her. Fantasy stood up and whirled around to find Brogue standing there, smiling at her. "If ye don't mind a wee bit of help, I think a miracle can be done, just this once."  
  
Fantasy laughed she was so happy. "Brogue! How'd ya find me?!"  
  
"Rave told us you were missing, so we've just been looking for you all over." Sky said, appearing next to Brogue.  
  
"She's alright?!" Fantasy asked.  
  
"Aye, she's fine." Brogue said, and he pulled her up onto the sidewalk. "We need to find Atlantic."  
  
"Ya think she's ok?" Fantasy asked.  
  
"If you can outrun two of our newsies, Atlantic can, too." Sky said confidently.  
  
"What do ya mean, two? Only one of 'em followed me." Fantasy said.  
  
"Only one of them followed Rave..." Sky said, and then it hit him. "Oh shit!"  
  
"We gotta find her!" Fantasy cried. "Dey wouldn't have k-killed her, would they?"  
  
"I don't know..." Sky said, staring at nothing. "Who was it? Did you recognize any of them?"  
  
Fantasy shook her head. "I only saw a glimpse of 'em, 'cept da one who followed me. I didn't recognize him at all."  
  
"Come on, we'll get you back and then we'll go out and look for her." Sky said, and he pushed her in front of him.  
  
"Wheah's Rave?" Fantasy asked, just noticing she wasn't there. "And Hope?"  
  
"Hope went home. To see if anyone said anything. And Rave went to find Racetrack or Skittery to help her look for Atlantic." Sky said.  
  
Fantasy nodded. She soon fell into step between them as they walked down alleys and streets. But mostly alleys. It was faster. But one block they walked past the alley.  
  
"We missed da alley." Fantasy pointed behind her to the opening in the brick.  
  
"There's a fence blocking the exit on the other side. We can't get through." Sky said.  
  
Fantasy stopped dead. "We need ta go dat way."  
  
"Why?" Brogue asked incredulously. "We'd be wastin' time."  
  
"Wheah are we?" Fantasy asked.  
  
"On Elm Street." Sky said, nodding at the sign.  
  
"No, are we by train tracks?" Sky nodded. "She's in dere! I know she's in dat alley!" She ran back and turned down the alley, ignoring Brogue and Sky's calls. In front of her she saw a high fence, and she could see something in front of it, but she couldn't be sure what; it was getting dark. She stopped running, and walked slowly towards the fence. She gasped when she saw what was on the ground. Fantasy could hear footsteps coming down the alley behind her, but she stood still.  
  
"Fantasy..." Brogue started, and then stopped as he saw what was in front of the fence. "Atlantic!"  
  
He bent down next to her. "She's unconscious. And she's got so many bruises and cuts..."  
  
Fantasy gulped. "She is..."  
  
"She's alive, don't worry." Sky said, bending down, too. "But beaten up pretty bad." He sounded disgusted. "How could they do that!"  
  
"We'll have to get her back. She'll be needin' help." Brogue said.  
  
"But how? I can't carry her, she's too heavy fer me. And if dat rest of da guys see you carryin' her..." Fantasy trailed off.  
  
"We'll take her to Donavan's. We told Rave to meet us there. And Racetrack and Skittery can carry her home. Come on." Sky said. He scooped Atlantic up into his arms and headed out of the alley.  
  
Brogue reached out towards Fantasy. "Are ye alright?"  
  
Fantasy nodded. "I'se ok."  
  
Brogue smiled sadly. "War's not a good thing. Ye need to remember that, and not let it happen again."  
  
Fantasy nodded. "Thanks, Brogue."  
  
"Come on, we'd best be goin'."  
  
___________________________________________  
  
WOO HOO!! Another chapter finished!! I had a bit of writer's block on this, too. But I broke it down, hehe. Anyway, the next chapter will be good; I know already what's going to happen. And in the chapter after that I know a little of it. So they'll be out soon!! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! PLEASE REVIEW!! 


	14. Caught!

Disclaimer: I don't own Newsies, Disney does. (Stupid Disney... lol) I wish I did, though. Oh, well... I do own Fantasy and all of the Chicago newsies. The rest of them own themselves.  
  
_______________________________  
  
"I can't believe it!" Song shouted, watching as Doc and Red carried Tickles in. "They hurt a little kid!"  
  
"That's war, Song." Cow said, walking into the room with Action and Target.  
  
"Where were you, Cow?" Cricket asked.  
  
"Having a little fun." Cow said, grinning at the two boys behind him.  
  
"You found someone, didn't you?" Hope asked, joining in.  
  
"Yeah, we saw three girls, caught one of 'em, too." Cow said. "Beat 'er up good, too."  
  
"Who was it?" Hope asked, holding her breath.  
  
"How should I know? They're all the same." Cow said, staring at Hope.  
  
"I was just wondering..." Hope trailed off, not wanting to seem suspicious.  
  
"How bad is he?" Cricket asked, turning to the others.  
  
"He doesn't look that bad... just some cuts and bruises." Doc said. "Is Snoot home?"  
  
"No, he went to the market place." Cricket said. "Doc, could you clean him up?"  
  
"Yeah." Doc said.  
  
"Thanks." Cricket turned back to Cow. "What happened to the other girls?"  
  
Cow shrugged. "Ran away. Curly and Pickles followed them. They back yet?"  
  
"Not yet." Cricket said, sighing. "I hope nothing happens to them."  
  
~*~  
  
Fantasy, Rave, Racetrack, and Skittery burst into Jack's hotel room.  
  
"Jack... It's Atlantic..." Race said.  
  
Jack jumped up and joined them, looking her over. "She needs a doctor! Wheah can we find one?"  
  
"Dere might be one heah..." Fantasy said, and Jack shook his head.  
  
"No, dey ask too many questions. Was she alone?"  
  
Fantasy and Rave looked at each other. "Well, not exactly..."  
  
"Not exactly?"  
  
"She was with me an' Fantasy, but dere were five of 'em..." Rave said. "We split up."  
  
"Ya split up! How many times do I hafta tell ya ta stay tagether?!" Jack cried out. "And youse two! Ya left 'em alone?"  
  
"Jack, it ain't dere fault..." Fantasy started.  
  
"We'll deal with dat later. Wheah we gonna put her?"  
  
"She could go in our room." Rave said. "We'll take care of 'er."  
  
Jack thought it over, and agreed. "Go on, bring 'er ta their room."  
  
Race nodded and walked with Fantasy and Rave down the their room, and Skittery headed to his room, to tell the rest of the newsies what had happened.  
  
"Look, I don't think me an' Skittery will be able ta go with ya ta Donavan's tanight. You should go by yerself." Race said after they had laid Atlantic in a bed and cleaned her up.  
  
"If Jack finds out, dough..." Fantasy started.  
  
"Jack'll 'ill want ta have another meetin' with us tanight. He won't notice yer gone."  
  
Fantasy sighed. "Alright. We bettah leave now, before it gets too dark..."  
  
"Be careful." Race said as he watched them go out the door.  
  
~*~  
  
When the two girls got to Donavan's, Hope, Brogue, and Sky were already sitting inside.  
  
"Where's Race and Skittery?" Sky asked.  
  
"They couldn't come. Jack was havin' another meetin' tanight." Rave said.  
  
"How many people got hoit?" Fantasy asked, sitting down.  
  
Hope sighed. "Just one. We thought that the two guys that had followed you did, but they finally got back home. And for you?"  
  
"Jus' Atlantic." Fantasy said, staring at the table.  
  
"Is she alright?" Sky asked.  
  
"I don't know. We can't get a doctah for her." Rave said. "Hopefully she ain't as bad as she looks."  
  
"Yeah." Hope said.  
  
"Hope, dear, do you think you could come back here and help me?" Maggie called from the kitchen.  
  
"Yeah, sure!" Hope smiled at them and went through the kitchen doors, leaving the rest behind in silence.  
  
"What are we gonna do?" Fantasy asked.  
  
At that moment, Jack came through the doors with most of the newsies following. "What are ya doin'?" he shouted.  
  
Fantasy and Rave jumped up, backing a little away from their friends. Brogue and Sky stood up slowly, keeping their eyes on Jack the whole time.  
  
"Jack... we were jus'..." Rave started, but she couldn't think of anything to say.  
  
"Yer talkin' ta the enemy, Rave! Dat's what yer doin'! I ain't blind, ya know." Jack shouted.  
  
"Jack, dey ain't the enemy!" Fantasy said.  
  
"Are yeah, den who are dey, ya scabs!" Spot said. He tried moving towards them, but a couple of boys held him back.  
  
Jack was glaring at them, shaking with anger. "You... go! Don't evah come back ta the hotel!"  
  
"Jack, ya can't kick us out!" Rave shouted, indignant.  
  
"Ya ain't welcome dere. Either of ya." Jack said.  
  
"Jack, how dey gonna get back ta New York?" Racetrack asked, stepping forward.  
  
"Dey ain't goin' back. Dey ain't welcome in Manhattan no more."  
  
"Or Brooklyn." Spot added.  
  
"Jack, ya can't do dat!" Skittery shouted. Jack whirled on him.  
  
"Well, I am. If ya say one more thing, yer stayin' with 'em." Jack said.  
  
"Go on, ya bums, get outta heah." Spot said, spitting at them.  
  
"Jack, please..." Fantasy pleaded, but he shook his head.  
  
"Go on, leave with yer boyfriends."  
  
"Look, they aren't on our side!" Brogue cried out, hating to see Fantasy and Rave in such a position.  
  
"Like I'm listenin' ta you." Jack said.  
  
"We ain't leavin', Jack." Rave said.  
  
"Fine, den we'll leave. But if ya come back ta the hotel..." Jack warned, and then he and his newsies were gone.  
  
Fantasy slid down onto the closest chair, holding her head in her hands.  
  
"It's alright, Fantasy. We'll be fine. Maggie might let us stay heah."  
  
"I can't believe they did that!" Sky shouted.  
  
"Dey did, alright? Calm down." Rave said. She pulled Fantasy to her feet. "Let's go ask Maggie."  
  
Fantasy nodded, and the two of them, followed by the two boys, walked into the kitchen, finding her alone.  
  
"Heya, Maggie." Rave said.  
  
Maggie looked up from the sink. "Rave, dear! I didn't know you were here!"  
  
Rave nodded. "Listen, Maggie. We'se don't have anywhere ta stay, do ya think we could stay with you?"  
  
"Of course you can! I have an empty room upstairs! I'd love to have some company." Maggie exclaimed happily.  
  
"Where's Hope?" Brogue asked, realizing she wasn't in the kitchen.  
  
"I sent her into the alley to throw out some garbage." Maggie said. "Now that you mention it, though, she should be back by now."  
  
Brogue frowned. "Ye don't think..."  
  
Sky ran to the door in the back of the kitchen, which lead outside and into the alley. "Hope!" he called out, but no one answered. "She's not there."  
  
"She's not there?" Maggie asked, slightly confused. "Where would she have gone?"  
  
"She probably went home. Look, Maggie, we'll be back latah. We're goin' on a walk with them first, alright?" Rave said. Maggie nodded, and the four newsies ran for the door.  
  
"Dey took her! I know dey did." Fantasy said. "She'll be in an alley..."  
  
"Come on, we need to go look for her." Sky said, and they ran along the streets, checking each alley, but seeing no one. After about an hour of searching, they stopped in an alley and sat down, catching their breath.  
  
"How are we evah gonna find her?" Fantasy asked.  
  
"We will." Sky said, so forcefully that it caused the other three to stare at him. "We have to!"  
  
"Why don't ye go home? Me an' Sky will keep lookin'." Brogue said.  
  
"We ain't leavin' ya." Rave said.  
  
"Come on, we should get going again." Sky stood up, and the others copied him. They headed for the end of the alley, but when they were a few steps away, three figures appeared in front of them, blocking their way. They turned towards the other side of the alley, and saw that it, too, was blocked.  
  
"Leaving so soon?" a voice from above them said. They looked up and saw three figures on the fire escape. The one in the middle jumped down and landed right in front of them. "You just got here."  
  
"Whadda want?" Rave asked, a little more bravely then she felt.  
  
The man laughed. "Marisa, you haven't changed a bit. I'm surprised you don't know your own father, though."  
  
Rave gasped. Was it really her father? She looked closer, and saw the deep- set eyes, the black hair, the scar above the eye... it was a face that had haunted her for a long time.  
  
He smiled. "Welcome back to Chicago."  
  
Fantasy's eyes widened when he said that he was Rave's father. It seemed almost impossible... and then she felt someone jump on her and push her to the ground, grabbing hold of her arms a little too tightly and pushing her back down with their knees. Her head was facing to the left, and she could see that Sky and Brogue were in the same position as her. The men that were behind them had tackled them to the ground.  
  
Rave was the only one still standing. Her father walked closer to her, still smiling. "You and your little friends are going to have a great time with us."  
  
Rave backed up, but couldn't go far unless she wanted to step on her friends.  
  
"You're stuck." He nodded to one of the people on the fire escape, who jumped down and grabbed her arms, holding them behind her. "And we'll have to be sure to cover your mouths... we don't want to police hearing you, now do we?"  
  
~*~  
  
At the hotel, the New York newsies were getting to ready for bed, each a little surprised and hurt that two of their friends were plotting against them, and a little worried about Atlantic.  
  
At the Chicago Lodging House, the newsies were also getting ready for bed. They, too, were a little worried. Tickles, as they had guessed, was not that bad, and had already awakened. But Brogue, Sky, and Hope were missing. Hopefully, they'd be back by the morning. As was custom, each newsie said a prayer, in whatever religion they were from, before sleep. Prayer lead those who were Catholic as the knelt next to their beds.  
  
"Our father, who art in Heaven..."  
  
___________________________________  
  
Dude, that was LONG. For me, anyway, lol. I know, the beginning wasn't too great. But the end was good. At least, I liked it a lot. And that's my big secret! Rave's father comes along. Mwhahahaha. I'm excited about the next chapter... well, for all the rest of the chapters. I think I'm going to try and write at least one more over break. YAY!! 


	15. A Jumble of Things

Disclaimer: I don't own the Newsies, no matter how much I wish I did. I do, however, own all of the Chicago newsies and Fantasy. The New York newsgirls own themselves.  
  
_________________________________  
  
No matter how hard the four tried to struggle out of the men's grasps, they hadn't been able to. They were led to an old, run-down factory in the middle of what looked like deserted apartment buildings. They were herded through a small back door and down a hallway. When they reached another set of doors, Rave's father left, and they entered a room that, surprisingly, held a ton of people. Even more surprisingly, none of the people in the room looked up as the four captives were brought along the self-made isle to the back wall.  
  
"Stay here until for now." one of the men said, and they untied their mouths and hands, and then walked back through the isle.  
  
"Your father?" Sky asked once he knew they were out of ear-shot.  
  
Rave nodded. "I ran away two years ago... I knew I shouldn't 'a come heah."  
  
"We have ta get out." Fantasy said, sliding to the floor. "Nobody's gaurdin' the doors..."  
  
"We just couldn't see anyone guarding the doors. Believe me, someone will be." Sky said, sitting down beside Fantasy.  
  
Brogue, however, ignored what was going on beside him, and instead had walked up to a girl around his age sitting a few feet away.  
  
"Excuse me..." Brogue said, bending down to look at her face. She looked up at him, but didn't say anything. "Me and me friends just got here, and we were wonderin', why are ye all in here?"  
  
She stared at him for a few seconds, kind of looking him over. "They're a gang, I guess you could say. Everyone you see in here's done something to annoy them. Most borrowed money but couldn't pay it back." She laughed bitterly. "But some people, like me, just got in their way."  
  
"Do ye jus' sit here all day, then?" Brogue asked.  
  
"If only." She said, frowning. "They make us go and do their dirty work."  
  
"Dirty work?" Brogue asked, trying to get all the information she could give.  
  
"You know, the threatening people, stealing things they need," she explained, "and killing people, too."  
  
Now it was Brogue's time to stare. She had just said she killed people; and she had said it so calmly. "Ye kill people, lass?"  
  
She laughed. "Yeah, we kill people. I hate doing that, but if I don't, they'll kill me. Not a hard choice there." She looked him up and down again. "You better get used to it, kid. You and your friends will be just like the rest of us."  
  
"I could never- never kill someone!" Brogue exclaimed, completely shocked.  
  
The girl shook her head, smirking. "You got in there way, too, huh? Yeah, I was just like you. But believe me. In a few days, you'll want to do what they say."  
  
"What makes ye think so?" Brogue asked.  
  
She looked pointedly over his shoulder at Fantasy and Rave, and nodded. "Because of what they'll do to your friends over there. There're worse things than being beaten that can happen to those two."  
  
Brogue shut his eyes, trying not to think about what she meant. He took a deep breath and opened them again. "Is there any way out?"  
  
She shook her head. "There're guards at every door. Believe me, I've tried them all." He nodded, and she grew a little less cold. "How'd you get caught?"  
  
"We were sittin' in an alley, and they jumped us. Didn't have time ta fight." Brogue said. "How long have ye been here?"  
  
"Two years." She said. "The worst ones of my life."  
  
"Hey, Brogue! What are ya doin'?" Rave asked.  
  
Brogue turned around and faced his friends. "I was askin'... I'm sorry, but what's your name?"  
  
"Sarah." She said. "But everyone here calls me... actually; you can just call me Sarah."  
  
Brogue nodded. "I was askin' Sarah about why they're all here. Sarah, that's Sky, Rave, and Fantasy."  
  
"You've got nick names, too, huh?" Sarah asked.  
  
"Yeah, we're newsies." Sky said, sounding like he was stating the most obvious thing.  
  
"You're newsies?" Sarah asked. "In Chicago?"  
  
"Well, me and Brogue are." Sky said. "Fantasy and Rave are from New York."  
  
"But you're newsies?" Sarah asked.  
  
Sky nodded. "Why, do you hate us, too?"  
  
"No, no, it's- it's not that..." Sarah said. "It's... oh, never mind."  
  
"Nevah mind?" Rave asked.  
  
Sarah looked over at her, and did a once-over, like she had done to Brogue. But this time, she looked a whole lot more interested. "Who found you in the alley?" Rave stared at her, but didn't answer. "It wasn't just those thugs who brought you in here, was it?"  
  
Rave looked Sarah up and down in turn, and decided she could be trusted. "My father did."  
  
Sarah bit her lip and nodded. She was a little shocked, but she had been expecting her to say that. "He's been looking for you."  
  
"I know he has."  
  
"You know what he's going to do to you?" Sarah asked, her bright eyes locked on Rave's green ones.  
  
"I have an idea." Rave said.  
  
Sarah nodded, breaking eye contact. "Watch your back, all of you."  
  
~*~  
  
Back at the Chicago Lodging House, the boys and girls were just waking up, and they all noticed that the three were still missing.  
  
"What do you think happened to them, Cricket?" Cow asked him as they washed up in the bathroom.  
  
"I don't know what could've happened." Cricket said. "We'll have to check the alleys today..."  
  
"Those newsies couldn't have got them! Brogue and Sky are strong, they would've fought back!" Cow exclaimed, showing his confidence in his two missing friends. "You really don't think that's what happened, do you?"  
  
Cricket shook his head. "Not to those two. You're right, they're strong. But Hope... I have a feeling she won't be walking home today."  
  
Cow slammed his hands down on the sink in front of him. "We have to settle this! Once and for all... I hate these wars, Cricket, you know I do! We're being cowards if we don't fight a real battle!"  
  
"Cow, calm down. We can talk to that Jack today, see what he thinks."  
  
Cow grinned. "Yeah, they might be a bit hurt after what I did to their friend last night..."  
  
"War's not a good thing, Cow."  
  
Cow rolled his eyes. "Oh, come off it, Cricket. You know there're plenty of reasons why we should be fighting them. We all know it! We've been waiting for this for a year now, Cricket. We need to fight them."  
  
"I know. And we will." Cricket said. "Now come on, get dressed."  
  
Cow rolled his eyes again, but walked back out of the bathroom and into the bunkroom.  
  
"Cow!" Claddagh called. He turned in the direction her voice came from, and walked over to her.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"They aren't back yet?" Claddagh asked anxiously.  
  
"No. I'm sorry Claddagh."  
  
She sat down on the bunk nearest her. "Where do ye think they could be, Cow?"  
  
"They could be anywhere."  
  
"Ye don't think they're hurt, do ye?"  
  
"No, Claddagh. You know that Sky and Brogue are strong, you taught them!"  
  
"I know... I'm just worried. I have a bad feeling when I think about them, like they're in trouble."  
  
"For all we know, they are." Song said, appearing next to Cow.  
  
"Who asked you, Song?" Cow snapped at her.  
  
Song raised her eye brows. "Hey, I'm not a New Yorker."  
  
"I'd like it better if you were." Cow said, smirking.  
  
Claddagh stood up. "I'm goin' outside."  
  
She walked past a few people, ignoring all of them, and headed down the stairs. Once she got to the bottom, though, Prayer was just standing there. "I was waiting for you."  
  
Claddagh smiled. "Thanks."  
  
"No problem." Prayer said, and the two headed towards the doors. "You know, Brogue's alright."  
  
Claddagh looked over at her. "You know that for sure, do ye?"  
  
Prayer smiled. "I don't know anything for sure. But if he was hurt, I'd know."  
  
Claddagh smiled at her friend. "Thanks, Prayer."  
  
~*~  
  
Back at the hotel, the newsies, too, were waking up and getting ready for another day in Chicago.  
  
"Ya know, I really thought dis trip would be funner." Lavender said as she brushed her hair in the bathroom. Her roommates, Nugget, Dainti, Snooza, and Illusion were also getting ready for the day.  
  
"It'll be over soon." Snooza said, joining Lavender in the bathroom.  
  
"Yeah, but Atlantic's hurt. What are we gonna do about dat?" Illusion asked. "This ain't jus' gonna go away."  
  
"Dis fight better end soon." Dainti said. "I hate it."  
  
"Who doesn't?" Nugget asked. The other girls nodded their agreement. Just then, there was a knock on their door. Snooza went to answer it, and saw Racetrack standing outside their door.  
  
"Hurry up, goils. Jack wants ya out on da street in five minutes. We need ta meet the Chicago newsies." He said.  
  
"We're supposed ta meet 'em?" Lavender asked as she walked out of the bathroom.  
  
Race frowned. "Yeah. Jack wants ta fight."  
  
"Well, we'll come with ya. We're all ready, right goils?" Dainti asked. They all nodded and followed Racetrack out of the room and down the flights of stairs and out into the street.  
  
"Dere ya are!" Spot exclaimed as he saw they walk out the door.  
  
"Heya, Spot. How come Jack wants ta fight?" Illusion asked.  
  
"'Cause 'a what dey did ta Atlantic!" Spot shouted. "Jus' come on. Dey'll be here any minute..." They followed him down the street and as they turned the corner, they saw their friends in front of them.  
  
Jack grinned. "Dere they are, boys!" He pointed to the end of the block, and the newsies all watched as their enemy walked towards them. When he was sure all the Chicago newsies would hear him, he raised his voice. "Oh, look, it's da Chicago newsies!"  
  
As Jack said this, everyone could see a few of them crack their knuckles.  
  
Cricket stepped forward, with Cow right next to him. "Look, Jack. We're sick of this. We want a battle, and soon."  
  
Spot smirked. "How soon?"  
  
"Tonight." Cow said, speaking for Cricket.  
  
"Good. 'Cause we want one, too." Jack said. "Do we use weapons?"  
  
Cricket shook his head. "No weapons."  
  
Jack nodded, but Spot frowned. "Come on, it ain't da same without weapons!"  
  
Sneaks poked him in the back and whispered up to him. "Spot, shut it! We don't want weapons."  
  
Spot still frowned, but agreed with the no weapons.  
  
"Where at?" Cricket asked them.  
  
"You know dis place bettah than us. Where would be da best place, without anyone around? We don't need da bulls on us." Jack said.  
  
Cricket turned and consulted with Cow. "Where do you think the best place would be?"  
  
"The apartment buildings, over on the west side. No one lives there anymore; it'd be the best place." Cow said, picturing the run-down, gray buildings that he had grown up in. "There's a park near there, too. Plenty of space."  
  
"Sounds good." Cricket said. He turned back to Jack and told him where to find the buildings. "Tonight, then. At eight."  
  
Jack and Spot nodded and the leaders walked back to their respective sides. "Come on, newsies. We'se got some papes ta sell. We won't have time tanight."  
  
Cricket called back to them as they were walking away. "And remember, Jack! Now that we have a fixed battle, you can't touch us 'til tonight."  
  
"This ain't me first war, Cricket. I know dat. You tell yer newsies ta remember it, too."  
  
"I will."  
  
"Good."  
  
~*~  
  
That night at eight, the New York newsies made their way through the unfamiliar streets to the park. They were all surprised to see they had gotten there before the Chicago newsies, but they took the opportunity to look around the area, so they'd know the territory a little bit.  
  
"Ya nervous, Mush?" Specs asked, sitting down on the ground next to him.  
  
"Aren't you?" Mush asked him.  
  
Specs sighed. "Yeah, I am. I don't understand dese fights. I really don't."  
  
"Me neither." Mush said, and he began staring at the ground to try and get his mind off of it.  
  
The girls were all there, too, even little Eraser. They were sitting together on a slide and the moldy wood around the sand box. Snooza turned to Eraser. "Listen, if you need help, jus' call for one of us, alright? If ya need to, hide in that tunnel ovah there." Eraser nodded. She couldn't say anything; she felt like she would throw up if she opened her mouth.  
  
Five minutes later, the Chicago newsies appeared on the other side of the park. All the New York newsies rose to their feet and stood behind their leaders. As the Chicago newsies came closer, the New York newsies became more nervous. It was the same for the Chicago newsies. They couldn't tell the other newsies were nervous- as they got closer and saw their facial expressions, they became more nervous. They New York newsies looked menacing when you were about to fight them.  
  
They stopped about seven feet from them, and the two groups stood staring at each other. Neither knew how they should start. Just as Cow was about to run forward, a figure ran towards them, screaming. Everyone turned their attention to it, and as it came closer, they realized it was a girl. Once she had reached the park, the Chicago newsies, and Racetrack and Skittery, knew who it was: it was Hope.  
  
"Hope! Are you alright?!" Claddagh called out, and she ran over to her friend.  
  
"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Hope said, trying to catch her breath.  
  
"Hope, you better go home. We're about to fight and you look exhausted, you can't fight right now..." Claddagh began.  
  
"No, no, I have to say something!" Hope said. She pushed out of her friend's grasp and ran up in-between the two groups. "Cricket and Jack! You have to come, quick! They took them!"  
  
"Hope, are you alright?" Cricket asked, stepping towards her.  
  
"Listen, all of you. Cricket, Brogue and Sky are missing, right?" Hope asked. Cricket nodded, and she turned to Jack. "And for you, Fantasy and Rave are missing, right?"  
  
"We kicked them out last night." Jack said. He knew he had over-reacted, but he had been so mad at the time.  
  
"Well, listen. You know Rave used to live in Chicago, right Jack?" she asked. Jack nodded, a little confused. "Well, her dad still lives here. And Cricket, you know the gang down at the old factory?" This time, Cricket nodded. "Well, Rave's dad is the leader of it. They took her last night, and Fantasy, Brogue, and Sky were with her. They took them down to the factory, I saw them!"  
  
Cricket looked extremely alarmed. "You're sure, Hope? You're sure that he took them?"  
  
Hope nodded.  
  
"What is dis all about?" Jack asked.  
  
"There's this gang, they do everything; kill people, steal from people... the list goes on and on." Cricket explained. "And we have a friend that's in there, the kidnapped her, made her work for them, but she tells us things. She told us that he was looking for his daughter... if Rave really is his daughter; she's in a lot of danger. And so are the other three, if they were with her."  
  
Jack gaped at him. "But- but, how do ya know he took 'em, Hope?"  
  
"I was at the restaurant last night, but I was helping Maggie in the kitchen, and I saw you go in the front, so I stayed in the alley. I didn't want to get caught. Well, when I was back there, I saw these men, just sitting on a fire escape close by me. They didn't see, which was good, but I could hear them. They were talking about Rave; they said they were going to follow her. I didn't know why, though. But I followed them as they followed Rave, Fantasy, Brogue, and Sky, and they caught them in an alley and brought them to the factory. We have to do something!"  
  
All the newsies stared at each other, not sure what to say, completely forgetting about the "battle" they were supposed to be fighting.  
  
__________________________________  
  
Wow, that was a VERY long chapter. I had to fit a lot in it, though. So now I think I have two or three chapters left. Yep, it's almost finished. Sorry about the longness, but PLEASE review!! I'd love you forever!! Lol. I hope you liked this chapter, I really did. Anyway, I'll try and update soon!! Promise! Have a good day! 


	16. The Plan

Disclaimer: I don't own the New York newsies. The boy ones are owned by Disney, the girl ones are owned by themselves, except Fantasy, who I DO own. And I own the Chicago newsies. All of them. Lol.  
  
Rave stood up and began to pace. "This ain't good."  
  
"What do ya think's gonna happen, Rave?" Fantasy asked, staring up at the girl.  
  
"You don't wanna know." Rave said, frowning.  
  
"We have to get out, then." Sky stood up determinedly. "We'll think of something."  
  
"Jus' for them to find us again, Sky?" Brogue asked sadly.  
  
"We could..." Sky began.  
  
"We could what? Run away? Go back ta New York?" Rave asked. "He'll jus' find me."  
  
"She's right, you know. He was just about to give up looking for you here in Chicago. Would've gone to New York next." Sarah said. "It's the closest city."  
  
"Then we can go to a small town- somewhere in... in another state. Or something!" Sky exclaimed.  
  
"No! I don't want to run away me whole life. Besides, I can't make you three give up your lives 'cause of me!" Rave shouted.  
  
"Too late for that." Sky said, just a little angrily. He was only trying to help, after all.  
  
Rave stopped pacing and glared at him, but Fantasy stood up between them.  
  
"Stop it! Look, you're both right. We have ta get out, somehow. But I don't wanna run me whole life. The only thing we can do is-"  
  
"Fight him." Sarah finished the sentence for her. "It's the only way, if you don't want to run from him."  
  
"But we can't fight him!" Rave and Sky said at the same time.  
  
"There's only five of us!" Sky exclaimed.  
  
"And tons of them." Rave added.  
  
"We can think of something." Sarah said.  
  
"Like what? Poisoning them?" Rave asked sarcastically.  
  
"No. We can't poison 'em." Brogue said. "And I really don't think we should kill 'em... Do ye hear that?"  
  
They could all hear some. It sounded like a bird- but this late at night? The four newsies were completely confused, but Sarah slide over to the vent on the ground. "Block me." She hissed at the four of them, and, even more confused, they stood around her, pretending to talk.  
  
Sarah, meanwhile, had taken the vent covering off, and had stuck her head in it. The four of them could hear her whistle a bird song back through it.  
  
"What is she doing?" Sky asked.  
  
"No clue..." Rave trailed off, watching her. But then they heard a voice, a little muffled because Sarah's head was in the way, coming from the other side of the vent.  
  
"Snap, they went to fight, down at the old apartment buildings." The voice said.  
  
"Not tonight!" They heard Sarah say exasperatedly.  
  
"Why? What's bad about tonight?" the voice asked.  
  
"Because! They've found his daughter! She's standing right next to me!" Sarah said.  
  
"They found his daughter?!" the voice asked.  
  
"Yes! And three of her friends- two of which are newsies here in Chicago." Sarah said.  
  
"What are their names?" the voice asked.  
  
"Brogue and Sky, I think."  
  
"Brogue and Sky?!" the voice asked.  
  
"Yes!" Sarah said.  
  
"Hey, I know who that is!" Sky said excitedly to Fantasy, Rave, and Brogue. "That's Curly- he's a newsie with us..."  
  
"They're here? Wait 'til Cricket hears..." the voice said.  
  
"Look, Curly, get over there right now and tell them. They need to get out of here, and we need all the help we can get. Five people can't do anything."  
  
"I'm going now." Curly said.  
  
"Good. We'll think of something. Hurry up, Curly!" Sarah said. She pulled her head out of the vent, placed the cover back on, and stood up to see four shocked faces staring at her. "What?"  
  
"How do you know him? And Cricket, for that matter." Sky asked.  
  
"I used to be a newsie here, until they brought me here." Sarah said. "It was two years ago. You must be new, huh?"  
  
"I've only been one for a year and a half." Sky said.  
  
"I must've got here right after ye got caught. Me an' me sister." Brogue said. "I've heard of ye, though. They talked about ye a little when I first got there, but after a few days, they stopped, and I jus'... forgot, I guess."  
  
"Well, Cricket kept in touch with me. We were good friends. Used to live next to him in our old apartment. We became newsies together. But that doesn't matter. We've got to come up with a plan, before Curly comes back with the newsies." Sarah said. "Hopefully..."  
  
"They'll come, once they know we're here." Brogue said confidently.  
  
Sarah nodded. "If they're in the middle of a fight, though..."  
  
"They'll come." Sky answered.  
  
"And the Chicago newsies?" Sarah asked Fantasy and Rave.  
  
"I don't know. Dey kicked us out last time we saw any of 'em..." Fantasy trailed off sadly. She sat down again.  
  
"Dey'll come." Rave said. "He was jus' mad, Fantasy. I know, dey'll come."  
  
Fantasy sighed. "Some of 'em will. Like Race an' Skittery... but the others..."  
  
"They'll come." Rave said again.  
  
Sarah nodded. "Then we'll think of a plan."  
  
The New York newsies and the Chicago newsies were all standing around the deserted park, trying to figure out what they could do.  
  
"Do ya even know where dis place is?" Jack asked Cricket.  
  
Cricket nodded. "We found it a few years back."  
  
"Den we'll storm the place! Soak all da scabs!" Spot shouted.  
  
"We can't do that! You don't know how many goons he has around that place." Cow said. "And believe me, they wouldn't think twice about killing us."  
  
"What can we do, den?" Racetrack asked. He was feeling so guilty about everything. If he had just stopped Jack from kicking them out...  
  
Skittery was feeling the same way. He was sitting on the ground, his head in his hands.  
  
All the girls were sitting on the play ground equipment, trying to think of a plan. All Claddagh could think of was her brother, stuck with that man...  
  
All was silent for the thousandth time that night, when another person came sprinting down the street to join them.  
  
"Cricket... Cricket!" he panted. Cricket looked up urgently, but he waited for the other to catch his breath. "I was just talking to Snap- she says they found his daughter, and Brogue and Sky, and two of the New York newsies are with her!"  
  
Cricket sighed, a little relieved. "Thanks, Curly. But we already know."  
  
"You- you know?" Curly asked, confused.  
  
"Yeah- long story. But they found Snap, huh? That's good."  
  
"Snap?" Spot asked.  
  
"My friend, who's in there. The one I was talking about before." Cricket explained. "She'll help them. Look after them as long as she can."  
  
"She said they'd think of something." Curly said.  
  
"That's what we're trying to do." Cow said.  
  
"But what can we do? Besides fight them?" Cricket asked. "I mean, there's no way we could fight them!"  
  
Jack frowned. "Dat's the only thing we can do. We'll get weapons, anything we can find. And den we'll get 'em out."  
  
"It's not that easy. We could get killed." Cricket said.  
  
"There's worse things than death." Racetrack said.  
  
The whole bunch of them looked over at him, a little amazed.  
  
"Race... no way, we can't do that." Jack said.  
  
Skittery stood up suddenly. "We ain't gonna fight 'em. But how about dis? We get 'em out, and then get da bulls involved in dis."  
  
"How can we get them out without anyone noticing?" Cricket asked skeptically.  
  
"How did you talk to Snap?" Skittery asked.  
  
"Through a little vent in the wall." Curly said. "Nobody could fit through that."  
  
"Alright... well, what kind of buildin' is it?" Skittery asked.  
  
"It's an old factory." Cow said.  
  
"How many floors?" Skittery asked.  
  
"I don't know- but they're on the first one." Curly said.  
  
"Do ya know which room?" Skittery asked. "Do ya know if it has windows?"  
  
"The windows are too high for us to reach." Curly said, picturing the building in his head.  
  
Skittery was stumped on that one. How else could they get them out?  
  
"And the room's full of other people." Curly said. "I'm sure they'd tell the guards. It'd get them in their favor."  
  
"Could they sneak out?" Skittery asked.  
  
"Yeah, of course there're doors! But they're all guarded from the outside."  
  
"Well, maybe if we found some doors that were off by themselves." Racetrack said. "Ya know, so none of da other guards could hear 'em if we went ta fight 'em."  
  
"There might be..." Curly said. "I've never been inside. We could go and ask Snap."  
  
"What do ya think?" Racetrack asked.  
  
"It's all we've got. Let's go." Cricket said. They gathered up the girls and the rest of the boys, and followed Curly to the factory.  
  
When they got there, Curly went up to the vent and opened it. He whistled into it for the second time, and waited for the whistle back.  
  
Inside, the five of them all jerked their heads up and stared at the vent. Sarah slid over to it again, and the other four hastily blocked her. Sarah whistled back.  
  
Curly smiled slightly. He was half-expecting for no whistle to come. "Snap- they're here, we've got a plan!"  
  
Sarah, hearing this, smiled slightly, too. They hadn't come up with anything. "What is it?"  
  
"Are there any doors in there that are kinda separated from the others?"  
  
Fantasy nodded towards one of them. "That's da only wall with one door."  
  
"Yeah." Sarah said into the vent.  
  
Curly sighed happily. "Good! Now look, get over near it. We're gonna knock out those guards, and get you five out."  
  
"Even me... don't you think-" Sarah started.  
  
"No, listen. We're getting the police once we get you out. We can't do this by ourselves! Which wall?"  
  
"Off to your right, there should be a door leading into a hallway. And then there should be some guard blocking another set of doors. That's where we'll be."  
  
"Good, now get over there."  
  
"Alright, we're going."  
  
"See you soon, then."  
  
Curly placed the covering back over the vent and rejoined the rest of the newsies. "She said there's a door over here... Ahh, here it is. She said that there's some doors down there that the guards'll be, well, guarding."  
  
"Alright, we're goin' in, den." Jack said. He, Spot, Cricket, Cow, Racetrack, and Skittery opened the door and walked inside.  
  
Sarah, too, covered the vent and then stood up. "Come on, we've got to move."  
  
The other four followed her as they moved towards the set of doors.  
  
"You think this'll work?" Sky asked Brogue.  
  
Brogue shrugged. He felt a little uncomfortable moving through the other people in the room, but they still didn't look up at them. When they reached the doors, they sat down next to them, waiting for their friends to come.  
  
Ooooooo, real big cliff-hanger!! I like it!! Yet another long chapter, for my standards. I'm so excited!! Now only two chapters left... awww. Hehe. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed, I promise I'll have a SO section in the last chapter! Now, go and review THIS chapter!!!!!!! 


	17. The Trouble With Rave's Father

Disclaimer: I don't own the boy New York newsies, Disney does. The girl New York newsies belong to themselves, which means Fantasy would belong to me, along with all the Chicago newsies, Mr. Brooks, and Sarah. And the other random people that are just thrown in.  
  
James Bryant, Rave's father, was striding around his office. His two most trusted partners-in-crime were in there with them, one sitting on the grimy arm chair, the other leaning against the once white wall.  
  
"What should we do, Sir?" the man on the chair asked.  
  
"We get her and torture her, that's what!" the other man said, eerily calm.  
  
"But why would we torture her? She hasn't done anything wrong..." the man in the chair said again.  
  
"She ran away from home. For all we know, she could have found out about the gang, and gone to tell the police on us."  
  
"But she didn't. Just let her go."  
  
"But she knows about us now. You think she won't go running for help the second she gets out of here?"  
  
"Yes, but torturing her?"  
  
"Shut up! The both of you!" James cried out. "I'm trying to think!"  
  
"We're only trying to help, Sir." The man on the chair said, moving back into the chair slightly.  
  
"Well, I don't need your help. I have an idea." James said.  
  
"Go on, then." The other man said.  
  
"Be quiet, John. How many times-" James began.  
  
"Alright, I'm shutting up." John grabbed the rickety chair from the corner and sat down on it.  
  
"We don't torture my daughter," At this point he stopped and spit onto the grimy floor, as if the word was poisonous, "but one of her friends."  
  
"One of her friends? Are you kidding?" John asked, laughing slightly. "What'll that do to her?"  
  
"John! I told you to be quiet!" James shouted. "Let me finish! As I was saying, we'll take one of her friends, torture that person. And we'll make her watch it."  
  
"That would hurt her mentally- she probably already blames herself for her friends being here." The man on the chair said.  
  
"See, Tom here understands what I'm talking about. You could learn a few things from him, John."  
  
"Fine, we torture one of her friends. But which one?" John asked.  
  
James paused to think. "The girl, that way you can have a little fun with her, John."  
  
John grinned. "I like that idea."  
  
"Alright, then. Let's get them." James said, leading the way out of the room and down the hall.  
  
Skittery, being the last through the door, closed it quietly.  
  
"Dere's two of 'em." Jack whispered, pointing ahead. The six of them stared ahead, and saw two rather large guys guarding what had to be the door Sarah had been talking about. The crept quietly down the hallway, and were really surprised when neither of them looked their way until they were about hallway down the hall. The one closest to them let out a little grunt, and the other turned their way, too, letting out a similar noise.  
  
Spot ran towards them, and the others followed.  
  
Inside the room, Sarah, Brogue, Sky, Fantasy, and Rave could hear the commotion outside in the hallway. "That's them." Sarah whispered.  
  
"Should we go help?" Sky asked.  
  
Sarah shook her head. "No, if we leave too soon, they'll call the rest of the guards on us. We won't have enough time to get away then."  
  
Just then, however, the door opened and Racetrack stuck his head inside. "Come on, let's get outta here."  
  
Fantasy and Rave jumped up, and a second later, the others followed suite. They walked over to the door, and as they did so, for the first time, the people in the room stared at them.  
  
"Come on, go faster." Sarah hissed at them.  
  
They reached the door and yanked it open, but they stopped dead when they heard a voice behind them.  
  
"Where do you think you're going?" James asked.  
  
"RUN!" Sarah shouted at the same time that James shouted, "GET THEM!"  
  
The five of them started to open the doors, but a second later, the people who had been lounging around them were up on their feet and blocking them.  
  
"Come on, Emily, let us go!" Sarah said to one of the girls.  
  
"No way. I ain't gettin' in trouble for you." She said.  
  
Sarah groaned and turned around, just to see everyone else up on their feet, ready to do anything James told them to.  
  
The newsies could hear the door rattling, and knew that their friends were trying to open it. And even though it was a little muffled, they could hear their voices.  
  
Out in the hall, they were doing everything they could to open the doors, but it wasn't working.  
  
"We need more help." Racetrack said, leaning against the door.  
  
"Da newsies!" Skittery cried, and he ran back down the hall and opened the door to the outside. "We need your help, dey're locked in the room!"  
  
They all looked at each other at first, not understanding what Skittery meant, but as it sank it, they all rushed inside to help their friends.  
  
"We gotta get the door open." Skittery explained as he ran back down the hall. "Dere's a few people blockin' it, but with everyone pushin'..."  
  
The newsies, the Chicago ones and New York ones all mixed, all nodded, and Specs, Mush, Curly, Action, and Claddagh went to help push the doors open, and miraculously, they did.  
  
Everyone in the room stared as the newsies came gushing in, and the ones around the door moved back, a little afraid of them.  
  
"Fantasy, Rave!" Jack shouted. "You alright?" The two girls nodded, and Jack smiled at them. "Listen, about last night-"  
  
"Not now. We need to get out." Sarah said. "While they're distracted..."  
  
They looked around and saw that the newsies had begun to fight with James' men and women. Brogue laughed as he saw his sister knock out the Emily girl that had blocked their way before.  
  
They walked through the crowd of people, but they could hear James shouting, and as they looked back, they saw him pull out a gun.  
  
"STOP!!!" he shouted at everyone. "STOP!!!!" He pointed his gun in his daughter's direction, and she stopped dead, as did Fantasy, Brogue, and Sky. "Now," he said, walking through the crowd, "we shall get on with my plan."  
  
The newsies, who had stopped fighting when he shouted, shrunk back together, and they formed a kind of half circle around the door, with Fantasy, Rave, Brogue, Sky, and Sarah in the middle.  
  
"Move." He said simply, but none of them did. "I said, MOVE!" He brandished his gun in the air, and then pointed it at Mush, who was standing at the front. "Or I'll shoot."  
  
"Move, Mush!" Rave shouted from the middle, and she started pushing herself through the crowd of newsies. "Just move!" But Sky pulled her back.  
  
"Stay here." He whispered to her.  
  
James smiled coolly as he saw the newsies move out of his way. "That's what I thought." He began to push his way through them, too, and when he reached the middle, he grinned at them. "Ah, you thought you could run, did you?"  
  
"Look, you can do whatevah ya want ta me, just don't hurt my friends." Rave said.  
  
"Dear, dear, dear. Why would I do that?" he asked, clucking his tongue. "I want to hurt you, and the best way to do that it to hurt your friend."  
  
Rave's temper flared. "Don't ya dare hurt any of me friends!"  
  
James laughed. "You can't stop me. I'll do what I want. Now, this, I believe, is the girl who came here with you, is it not?" He pointed his gun at Fantasy, and she shivered.  
  
"No. No, dat ain't her." Rave said desperately.  
  
James laughed again. "I'll take that as a yes." He went to grab her, but Brogue stepped in front of her.  
  
"Don't ye tough her."  
  
"Brogue!" Claddagh said. "Brogue, just move, will ye?"  
  
"No! I'll not be lettin' him hurt me friend, Claddagh." Brogue said calmly.  
  
"Brogue, please!" Claddagh cried. "She's not your friend! She's from New York!"  
  
"Do ye understand yet?! We can't go blamin' them for our troubles! They were stickin' up for their selves, they didn't mean for this to happen. We should be followin' them, stickin' up for ourselves! We haven't even tried to talk to the mayor, all we did was complain about what he was doin' to us!"  
  
Claddagh was shocked. "Brogue-"  
  
"That's enough. Are you moving or not?" James asked Brogue, raising his gun again.  
  
"No." Brogue said defiantly.  
  
James started to pull the trigger, then felt someone push him from behind as he pushed it down all the way and let go. He flew to the floor from the force of the push, and the gun flew out of his hand. Curly ran forward and picked it up off the ground, pointing it at James.  
  
Racetrack stood behind James, being the one who had pushed him. He looked over at Fantasy, and saw that Brogue was on the ground, Fantasy leaning down next to him. "Brogue!" he shouted, jumping over James and leaning down next to Fantasy.  
  
Claddagh, too, rushed forward and bent down next to them, tears falling from her eyes, which never happened.  
  
"Brogue..." she whispered.  
  
"It's alright." Fantasy said to Claddagh. "Da bullet only went into his leg. He should be ok."  
  
"Are ye sure?" Claddagh asked. She looked at his leg, and saw blood seeping through a hole in his pants.  
  
Brogue groaned. "I'm- I'm alright." He panted.  
  
"Let me look at it."  
  
Claddagh looked up and saw Doc's face staring down at her. She moved over to make room for the other newsie.  
  
He ripped Brogue's pants open and looked at it. "I don't think the bullet went that deep..."  
  
"I'll kill you!" James shouted, pushing himself up. He had gotten the wind knocked out of him when he had landed, but he was better now.  
  
"Oh, no you don't!" Curly shouted, keeping the gun aimed at him.  
  
"You don't know how to use that, you silly boy!" James shouted, laughing. "Now give it to me, and I won't hurt you."  
  
"Yeah, well, I know how to use it." Sarah said, reaching for the gun.  
  
"No. Snap, I know how to use it." Curly said. "Used to live on a farm. Dad took me hunting and everything." He grinned as he saw fear in James' eyes.  
  
"Well, I can still get my gang to beat you up." James said.  
  
"No, actually, you can't." Everyone stopped what they were doing again, and looked over at the far wall, where the door was open and yet another group of people were standing, waiting. The man in front was the one talking. "You and all your gang are under arrest."  
  
The New York newsies were all confused. That voice sounded so familiar...  
  
"Mr. Brooks?!" Boots cried out.  
  
Mr. Brooks nodded at him. "Yes, that's me. I'm the Chief of Police."  
  
"No way!" Spot shouted. "You're lyin'."  
  
"No, afraid I'm not." He nodded to the men behind him, and they moved forward and began to hand cuff everyone. He alone came through the crowd of newsies and joined the group in the middle. "You- you're getting a life sentence, if not a death sentence."  
  
James spat at him. "Just try." He started to move towards the door, but Curly stepped forward.  
  
"Not so fast." He said, his hand steady.  
  
Three of the policemen grabbed James roughly and hand cuffed him. They pushed him towards the rest of his captured gang, but he shouted back at them all. "I'll get you! I swear I will!! You can't hide from me! You'll see!!" But then they put a gag in his mouth, and the rest of his words were cut off.  
  
Mr. Brooks turned his attention to Brogue, who was still bleeding. "It looked like your friend needs help. Come on, we'll get him to the hospital."  
  
"But- we can't afford that!" Claddagh said.  
  
"Don't worry about it. We've been trying to track down this gang for years, and now, with your help, we were able to. The least we can do is help your friend here."  
  
Claddagh smiled. "Well, thanks."  
  
"Mr. Brooks?" Jack said. He turned around and looked at him, too. "We have a friend at da hotel... she was beat up-"  
  
"We'll get her to the hospital, too." Mr. Brooks said. "Now, come on."  
  
I don't care if that's cheesy, makin' Mr. Brooks be the police-man. I thought it was fun!! Hehe. Poor Brogue! He's hurt!! But he's getting help!! YAY!! I hope you all paid attention to that little speech he gave before he got shot- it's important to the whole story. Hope you enjoyed it, and have a great day!!!!!! 


	18. The Hospital

Disclaimer: I don't own the New Yorkers at all (the boys belong to Disney, the girls belong to themselves) but I do own Fantasy. And the Chicago newsies. And a few random people throughout the chapters (such as Mr. Brooks).  
  
As promised, Mr. Brooks made sure Atlantic was brought to the hospital, where Brogue was already being treated. Like Doc said, the bullet wasn't very deep; they got it out alright, but they said he had to use a crutch for a few weeks, but he would be alright.  
  
A week after the "incident", Fantasy, Rave, Racetrack, and Skittery went to get Sky, Hope, and Brogue so they could go and visit Atlantic, who was still in the hospital.  
  
"You should change yer name, ya know." Racetrack told Brogue.  
  
"Why would I be changin' me name?" Brogue asked. He grabbed his crutch and walked along with them out of the Lodging House towards the hospital.  
  
"We have a pal back home who uses a crutch. Needs it all da time, actually." Skittery explained. "We call 'im Crutchy."  
  
"And?" Brogue asked.  
  
Fantasy laughed. "Ask any of da New York newsies, dey think it's da funniest thing. Now both of us have got a crutchy."  
  
"Yeah... hilarious..." Sky said, a little skeptical.  
  
"Come on, hurry up." Hope said.  
  
"Why rush?" Rave asked.  
  
"Atlantic's getting out today." Hope said.  
  
"Believe me, she'll be wantin' to leave as soon as we get there." Brogue said, remembering his short, two day stay at the hospital. "It's not fun."  
  
"Yeah, dat and we're leavin' tomorrow. She wouldn't want ta get left behind." Rave said.  
  
"We wouldn't leave 'er behind." Fantasy said.  
  
"I was jokin'." Rave said.  
  
"And we've got that picnic in the park today." Sky added.  
  
Skittery groaned. "Dat'll be stupid."  
  
"I don't know... I think it'll be nice. I mean, everyone will be able ta get ta know each other." Fantasy said, thinking aloud.  
  
"Yeah, it will be nice. I'd like to get to know some more of the New Yorkers, before you leave." Hope nodded in agreement to Fantasy.  
  
"Yeah, I guess it might be fun..." Sky trailed off as they approached the large, two-story hospital. They walked through the doors and up to the receptionist.  
  
"What can I help you with?" she asked.  
  
Racetrack grinned. "We've been here every day dis week. If ya don't know what we're here for yet..."  
  
The woman smiled, too. "Yes, I know what you're here for."  
  
"Great, then we'll go-" Sky began.  
  
"I'm sorry, I can't let you see her right now." the receptionist said.  
  
"What? Why?" Hope asked.  
  
"Is she alright?" Rave asked.  
  
"She's fine, but she has visitors right now." she answered. "Why don't you wait over there until they come out?"  
  
"S-sure." Skittery said, staring at the others as they went and took seats.  
  
"Other visitors?" Fantasy said. "But, none of da New York newsies were comin' taday, we were supposed ta get her and bring her back ta the hotel."  
  
"That's what they said..." Rave said, trying to figure it out.  
  
"Maybe it's one of the Chicago newsies." Sky said. Everyone turned to look at him.  
  
"You think..." Hope began, but trailed off.  
  
Atlantic was sitting up in bed, waiting anxiously for her friends to come and get her out of there. She was feeling much better, and she just wanted to be with her friends again. She heard the door open, and jerked her head around, expecting to see her friends, but found herself staring at someone she hadn't wanted to see again- Cow.  
  
"Uh- hi." He said, standing awkwardly in the door way. Inside, he yelled at himself for ever coming.  
  
"Hi." Atlantic said quietly.  
  
"Could I come in?" he asked. Atlantic nodded, and he walked into her room and sat down in the chair next to her bed. "Look, Atlantic, I'm really sorry. We all are. It's just..."  
  
"It's just?" Atlantic asked.  
  
"Well, we'd been suffering for so long, and we blamed everything on you guys... I couldn't help hating you."  
  
"I know." Atlantic said. She felt a little uncomfortable, sitting here, talking to him.  
  
Cow frowned. "No, I didn't have to hate you. But I did. And I wanted to hurt you, all of you, because of what you did." He sighed. "And I'm really sorry that you're the one I did hurt. If I could, I would take it back."  
  
Atlantic smiled slightly. She could tell by the intensity in his eyes that he was sincerely sorry. "Thanks."  
  
Cow began to smile, too. "You... You mean, you don't hate me?"  
  
Atlantic shook her head. "I can't forget what ya did... but no, I don't hate you."  
  
Cow grinned full-out. "I'm glad. And I'm glad you're better."  
  
"So am I. I need ta get outta this place."  
  
Cow's grin slid off a little at her words. "I'm really sorry I got you in here."  
  
"I know. But dere's nothin' we can do about it now."  
  
Cow nodded, and they sat in silence for a few minutes, until Cow spoke up and changed the subject.  
  
"Are you going to the picnic today?"  
  
Atlantic nodded. "I can't wait for it."  
  
"Good. I'll see you then, then?"  
  
Atlantic smiled. "Yeah, I'll see ya then."  
  
He left the room felling better than he had felt in a week. It'd been hanging over him ever since he heard what Brogue said in the old factory, and now he'd done what he could to fix it. He walked down the hall, not paying attention to anything until he heard his name called. He turned around and was really surprised to see Sky, Hope, and Brogue sitting there.  
  
"Oh, hi." He said.  
  
"What are you doing here, Cow?" Sky asked.  
  
"I went to see Atlantic."  
  
"You... but... why?" Brogue asked.  
  
"I went to apologize." Cow explained. "Now look, I'm going to go get ready for the picnic..."  
  
"Bye, Cow." Sky said. He smiled as he watched his friend walk out the doors. "I'm glad he said something."  
  
"So am I." Hope said. She was smiling, too. And then she stood up. "We better go and get Atlantic out of here."  
  
"Good idea." Brogue said. He stood up again, leaning on his crutch so he wouldn't put all his weight on his leg. "She be wantin' to leave."  
  
"Then let's save her, huh?" Fantasy asked. She smiled and laughed as she jumped out of her chair and lead them down the hall to Atlantic's room.  
  
"Ya ready ta leave, Atlantic?" Fantasy asked as she entered her room.  
  
"'Course I am." Atlantic said, smiling at her friends.  
  
"Do we need to tell the doctor first?" Hope asked, looking around the room to see if he was in there.  
  
"Aw, how cares. Let's just leave with her..." Rave said.  
  
"No, don't worry, the doctor came ta see me right before Cow came." She paused after she said that to see if they would ask her why he was there, but then realized they must have seen him walk out. "Anyway, he told me I could leave."  
  
"Great, den we're all set." Racetrack said. He walked next to her bed. "Ya need help walkin'?"  
  
"No, I think I can do it." Atlantic answered. She swung her legs to the right side and got up. "Yeah, I'm good."  
  
"And you're all changed... so we're ready! Let's go." Sky said.  
  
Racetrack, despite Atlantic's remark, stayed next to her, making sure she didn't fall.  
  
"Race, I'm alright."  
  
"Ya never know." Racetrack said.  
  
Atlantic rolled her eyes and made a face at Fantasy, but didn't protest again. When they reached the receptionist's desk, she waved good-bye to them, calling after their retreating forms to "Visit again soon."  
  
"I hope that I'll never be in there again." Brogue said when the doors closed behind him.  
  
"You'll never afford it again." Sky joked.  
  
"Yeah, well, ya have ta go back in a few weeks, for dem ta look at your leg again." Fantasy pointed out.  
  
Brogue sighed. "That's true. Oh, well, I'll live."  
  
"Good." Hope said, smiling.  
  
Another chapter finished!! And I believe that all I have left is the epilogue! tear Shout outs next chapter, I promise!! I want to save them until the end. But I do have one.  
  
Atlantic- I'm sorry I had you get hurt, and that you didn't fight back... I hope you liked your scene with Cow!  
  
Now, have a great day!!! 


	19. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I don't own the New York newsboys, Disney does. The New York newsgirls own themselves, which would mean I own Fantasy. And I own the Chicago newsies, and some random people in between. Kaye owns herself, too.  
  
Shout Outs!! (Told ya I'd have them!!)  
  
-Blue Boxer- Thank you SO much for reviewing. Ever since you started reading this, you've reviewed... EVERY time. That means so much to me, thanks hon! You're so encouraging... and you're a great writer, too! Keep it up!!  
  
-Rain- Yes, Brogue will be alright... but alas, Rave's dad doesn't die. Oh, well, he's in prison... forever! YES!! Lol. But thank you for reading this. You're one of the only people who are in it that reads it. I'll definitely remember that, and you're reviews have been so great, THANK YOU!! I hope you like this!  
  
-Sphinxx- You're awesome. You've been reading/reviewing since the very beginning. I'm sorry I never made you a Chicago newsie (don't know if you remember, but you asked me if you could be one in your first review). I'm glad you stuck with reading this, though.  
  
-Sneaks- Thank you for reviewing. It means a lot to me... seeing as how you're in the story!! Hehe.  
  
-Kane- Thanks SO very much for the reviews. They've made my day. I didn't think anyone would like my story so much, lol.  
  
-Atlantic- I'm sorry I made you get hurt- and that you didn't fight back. I hope that scene with Cow made up for it a little. I love ya, girl!!  
  
-Lavender- You've only reviewed a few times, but I thought I'd say thanks, too! You're review was very nice, so thank you VERY much. .................................................  
  
The picnic that night was a great time for all the newsies. Sarah was finally free to be a newsie again, and seeing her friends face to face made her extremely happy. What was more, one of the girls she had met while working for James came with her.  
  
"This is my friend, Kaye." Sarah said, introducing the blonde-haired girl wearing pigtails braids next to her.  
  
Kaye laughed, her blue eyes twinkling. "I can introduce myself, Sarah. Like she said, I'm Kaye."  
  
"Nice ta meet ya." Jack said, shaking her hand. "I'se Jack Kelly."  
  
"Cricket." Cricket said, also shaking her hand.  
  
"Yeah, I know who you are. Sarah's told me about you." Kaye said to Cricket. "She told me all about being a newsie. It sounds like fun." She looked rather pointedly at him.  
  
Cricket laughed. "You've got anything planned, now that you're free to do what you want?" Kaye shook her head, smiling. "Great, we've been looking for a new newsie... if you'd like to be one."  
  
"I'd love it!" Kaye exclaimed.  
  
Cricket, Jack, Cow, and Sarah laughed.  
  
"Great, and you can come stay with us." Cow said, speaking up for Cricket, like always.  
  
"I would've anyway." Kaye said. She smiled at them and leaned back against the tree happily.  
  
The next day, both groups of newsies were up early. Having already packed, the New Yorkers only had to put their suitcases, which were a surprisingly little amount, into the carriages the mayor had sent over. As they were about to get in, the Chicago newsies showed up down the block, where they stood, waiting to say good bye.  
  
"We'll be right back." Jack told the drivers, and he lead the New York newsies down the street. "Well, well, well. If it ain't the Chicago newsies."  
  
Cricket grinned. "Couldn't let you leave without saying a proper good bye."  
  
"Oooo, proper now, are ya?" Race asked, laughing.  
  
"Yeah." Cricket stepped forward, holding his hand out for Jack to shake. "It was good having you here. And if you ever come back and need a place to stay, just come knocking on the Lodging House door."  
  
"Same ta all of you." Jack said. He extended his hand, and the two leaders shook. "You talk ta the mayor yet?"  
  
"We're going right after this." Cricket said. "We'll talk some sense into him."  
  
Jack laughed. "Good."  
  
"We'll see you later, then." Cricket nodded, and the Chicago newsies turned and left, except three of them- Brogue, Sky, and Hope.  
  
The New York newsies watched them walk away, and then Jack, too, turned around. "We better get goin'."  
  
They all walked away, leaving Fantasy, Rave, Atlantic, Racetrack, and Skittery to say good bye.  
  
Race smiled at them. "It was a good trip, huh?"  
  
"If you want to call it that." Sky said. But he was smiling, too.  
  
"Tell Maggie I said bye, will ya?" Rave asked them.  
  
"Tell 'er we all said bye." Atlantic said.  
  
"We will, don't worry." Hope promised them.  
  
Fantasy sighed. "We better get goin'... promise you'll write?"  
  
"Only if ye write us." Brogue said, and Fantasy nodded.  
  
They all hugged. Fantasy, Hope, and Atlantic were crying. They knew that they probably wouldn't see each other again, but they were trying not to be too sad. Fantasy smiled a little, though, when she thought she saw a tear in Rave's eye; she didn't mention it to anyone.  
  
And so they left to join their friends in the carriages, and waved good bye to their friends on the corner. They reached the train station and had a relaxing ride home. But once they reached Grand Central Station, all the Manhattan newsies were there waiting for them, and the Jacobs family off to the side, waiting for David.  
  
Jack, as the leader, led them off the train, Spot and David right behind him, and the rest right behind them. And there they stood, facing the seven Manhattan newsies that stayed behind, a little more ragged than when they had left, and a lot more mature.  
  
"How was it, Jack?" Kid asked.  
  
"It was interestin', Kid." Jack said. "Mighty interestin'."  
  
...............................................  
  
Wow... I finished. I actually finished. It took me a year, but I'm done. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and the whole thing! Thanks for the support, love you all, and have a grand day!!!!  
  
-Fantasy 


End file.
